Francesco Griselini and His Relation to Goldoni and Molière

Abstract

The name of Francesco Griselini will be sought for in vain in most histories of literature and encyclopedias. If he is mentioned at all, it is in connection with his biography of Fra Paolo Sarpi, which appeared in several editions of the Istoria del Concilio Tridentino from 1760 on, and attracted so much attention that it was put on the Index;' this is, with very few exceptions, the only work by Griselini that can be found in American libraries. Yet in his day he was a writer of some prominence. He was born in Venice in 1717 and died in Milan in 1783. From 1765 to 1776 he edited in Venice the Giornale d'Italia, contributing to it many articles on science and agriculture. In 1768 he began the publication of a Dizionario delle arti e de' mestieri, of which he compiled five volumes.2 He was a member of numerous academies, including those of London, Berne, Gorizia, Florence, and Bologna. His brief excursion into the field of the drama is the occasion of the present paper. While undoubtedly a mediocre writer, he does not quite deserve the oblivion into which he has fallen; some scholar having access to the archives of Northern Italy might well make a thorough study of his career. In 1890 an essay of 35 pages, which in spite of repeated efforts I have not been able to procure, was published about him by Domenico Maddalena, at Schio; and S. Rumor published in 1907 a brief sketch of his life, with a bibliography of his writings.3 In 1752 Griselini published a critical essay on Italian comedy;4 in 1755 a tragi-comedy entitled Socrate Jilosofo sapientissimo, with I See G. Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica (Venezia, 1840-61), XCII, 467-72; Tiraboschi, Storia della letteratura italiana (Firenze, 1805-10), VII, 502-7.