Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti (24 April 1719, Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...

 – 5 May 1789, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

) was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

-born English literary critic
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...

 and author of two influential language-translation dictionaries. During his England years he was often known as Joseph Baretti.

Biography

Baretti was intended by his father for the profession of law, but at the age of sixteen fled from Turin and went to Guastalla
Guastalla
Guastalla is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna, Italy.-Geography:Guastalla is situated in the Po Valley, and lies on the banks of the Po River...

, where he was for some time employed in a mercantile house. He devoted himself to the study of literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

 and criticism
Criticism
Criticism is the judgement of the merits and faults of the work or actions of an individual or group by another . To criticize does not necessarily imply to find fault, but the word is often taken to mean the simple expression of an objection against prejudice, or a disapproval.Another meaning of...

, in which he became an expert. For many years he led a wandering life, supporting himself chiefly by his writings. At length he arrived in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where he remained for the remainder of his life (when not traveling). He was appointed Secretary to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, and became acquainted with Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...

, Garrick and others of that society.

Baretti was a frequent visitor at the home of Hester Thrale
Hester Thrale
Hester Lynch Thrale was a British diarist, author, and patron of the arts. Her diaries and correspondence are an important source of information about Samuel Johnson and 18th-century life.-Biography:Thrale was born at Bodvel Hall, Caernarvonshire, Wales...

, and his name occurs repeatedly in Boswell's Life. In 1769 Baretti was tried for murder after inflicting a mortal wound with his fruit knife on a man who had assaulted him on the street. Johnson and others gave evidence in his favour at the trial, which resulted in Baretti's acquittal. He died in London in May 1789.

Works

Baretti's first notable work was the Italian Library (1757), a useful catalogue of the lives and works of several Italian authors. The Lettere famigliari, giving an account of his travels through Spain, Portugal and France during the years 1761-1765, were well received, and when afterwards published in English (4 vols., 1770), were highly commended by Johnson.

While in Italy on his travels Baretti established a journal of literary criticism, titled Frusta letteraria (Literary Scourge). It was published under considerable difficulties and was soon discontinued. Among his other numerous works may be mentioned a useful Dictionary and Grammar of the Italian Language, a similar Dictionary of the Spanish Language, and dissertations on Shakespeare and Voltaire. His collected works were published at Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 in 1838.

The recantation of Galileo "eppur si muove
Eppur Si Muove
Eppur si muove is the third full-length album by the German symphonic metal band Haggard. It was released on April 26, 2004 by Drakkar Entertainment....

" ("It does move" or "nevertheless it moves") is first recorded by Baretti in his Italian Library. This recording was made some 125 years after Galileo is purported to have made the statement sotto voce.

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