Gaetano Polidori
Encyclopedia
Gaetano Polidori was an Italian
writer and scholar living in London
. He was the son of Agostino Ansano Polidori (1714-78), a physician and poet who lived and practised in his native Bientina
, near Pisa
, Tuscany
.
Polidori studied law at the University of Pisa
. He became secretary to the tragedian Vittorio Alfieri
in 1785 and remained with him four years.
He came to England from Paris
in 1790 after resigning as Alfieri's secretary. He settled in London, working as an Italian
teacher.
He translated various literary works into Italian, notably, John Milton
's Paradise Lost
and Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto
, as well as other writings of Milton and Lucan. He wrote prolifically, producing his own fiction, poetry, criticism, and tragedies.
In 1793, he married an English governess, Anna Maria Pierce, and they had four sons and four daughters. His oldest son John William Polidori was a physician to Lord Byron and author of the first vampire story in English
, The Vampyre
(1819).
His daughter Frances Polidori
married exiled Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti
and had four children, Maria Francesca Rossetti
, Dante Gabriel Rossetti
, William Michael Rossetti
and Christina Georgina Rossetti.
Gaetano Polidori published a number of works, including some of his own writings. He also set up a private press
at his home in London, where amongst other works (mostly his own), he printed the first editions of some poems by his grandchildren, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Rossetti. He also printed an edition of the poem Osteologia, which his father Agostino Ansano Polidori had written in 1763.
He retired to a house in Holmer Green
, Buckinghamshire
in 1836.
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...
writer and scholar living 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...
. He was the son of Agostino Ansano Polidori (1714-78), a physician and poet who lived and practised in his native Bientina
Bientina
Bientina is a comune in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 50 km west of Florence and about 15 km east of Pisa....
, near Pisa
Pisa
Pisa is a city in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the River Arno on the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa...
, Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
.
Polidori studied law at the University of Pisa
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa , located in Pisa, Tuscany, is one of the oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the 11th century...
. He became secretary to the tragedian Vittorio Alfieri
Vittorio Alfieri
Count Vittorio Alfieri was an Italian dramatist, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy."-Early life:Alfieri was born at Asti in Piedmont....
in 1785 and remained with him four years.
He came to England from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1790 after resigning as Alfieri's secretary. He settled in London, working as an Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
teacher.
He translated various literary works into Italian, notably, John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
's Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
and Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto
The Castle of Otranto
The Castle of Otranto is a 1764 novel by Horace Walpole. It is generally regarded as the first gothic novel, initiating a literary genre which would become extremely popular in the later 18th century and early 19th century...
, as well as other writings of Milton and Lucan. He wrote prolifically, producing his own fiction, poetry, criticism, and tragedies.
In 1793, he married an English governess, Anna Maria Pierce, and they had four sons and four daughters. His oldest son John William Polidori was a physician to Lord Byron and author of the first vampire story in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, The Vampyre
The Vampyre
"The Vampyre" is a short story or novella written in 1819 by John William Polidori which is a progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction...
(1819).
His daughter Frances Polidori
Frances Polidori
Frances Mary Lavinia Polidori, later Rossetti, is noted for her family connections rather than in her own right; in particular, two of her children were co-founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and another became a famous poet.Frances was the daughter of Italian exile Gaetano Polidori and...
married exiled Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti
Gabriele Rossetti
Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe Rossetti was an Italian poet and scholar who emigrated to England.Born in Vasto in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the original family of his ancestors was Della Guardia...
and had four children, Maria Francesca Rossetti
Maria Francesca Rossetti
Maria Francesca Rossetti was an English author. She was the sister of artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti as well as William Michael Rossetti and Christina Georgina Rossetti, who dedicated her poem Goblin Market to Maria...
, Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
, William Michael Rossetti
William Michael Rossetti
William Michael Rossetti was an English writer and critic.-Biography:Born in London, he was a son of immigrant Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti, and the brother of Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Georgina Rossetti.He was one of the seven founder members of the...
and Christina Georgina Rossetti.
Gaetano Polidori published a number of works, including some of his own writings. He also set up a private press
Private press
Private press is a term used in the field of book collecting to describe a printing press operated as an artistic or craft-based endeavor, rather than as a purely commercial venture...
at his home in London, where amongst other works (mostly his own), he printed the first editions of some poems by his grandchildren, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Rossetti. He also printed an edition of the poem Osteologia, which his father Agostino Ansano Polidori had written in 1763.
He retired to a house in Holmer Green
Holmer Green
Historically, Holmer Green was a small hamlet in the parish of Little Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England. Today it is considered a village in its own right even though it looks to the casual observer like a far corner of High Wycombe...
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
in 1836.