L'huomo di lettere
Encyclopedia
.L'huomo di lettere difeso ed emendato (Rome, 1645) by the Ferrarese Jesuit Daniello Bartoli
(1608-1685) is a two-part treatise on the man of letters bringing together material he had assembled as a teacher of rhetoric and a preacher. His literary success with this work led to his appointmernt in Rome as the official historiographer of the Society of Jesus
.
Part I defends his high status under two headings, La Sapienza felice anche nelle Miserie and L'Ignoranza misera anche nelle Felicita. Part II emends his faults, taking particular aim at excesses of the precious baroque style then in vogue. Its chapters are Ladroneccio, Lascivia, Maldicenza, Alterezza, Dapoccaggine, Imprudenza, Ambitione, Avarizia, Oscurita.
soon challenged by a Bolognese edition (1646) dedicated to Virgilio Malvezzi
. Over the following three decades and beyond there were another thirty printings at a dozen different Italian presses, especially Venetian, of which half a dozen "per Giunti, e Baba" with a signature frontispiece title illustration.(Here right)
Bartoli's literary "how to" book spread its influence well beyond the geographical and literary confines of Italy. During the process of her conversion to Roman Catholicism at the hands of the Jesuits in 1651 Christina, Queen of Sweden specifically requested a copy of this celebrated work be sent to her in Stockholm.
It seems to have fulfilled the Baroque
dream of an energetic rhetorical eloquence to which the age aspired. Through its gallery of exemplary stylizations and picturesque moral encouragements it defends and emends not only the aspiring letterato, but also an updated classicism open to modernity, but diffident of excess. The book's international proliferation made it a vehicle of the cultural ascendancy of the Jesuits as modern classicists during the Baroque. Years later, Bartoli provided a revision for the collected edition. After Bartoli's death the editions and translations continued to appear, particularly in the Ottocento.
In Bartoli's lifetime and beyond his work was also translated extensively, by men of letters of other nationalities, Jesuits and non-Jesuits.
(Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft) (Nurnberg, 1654).
and dedicated to George Monck, was translated under the name of Thomas Salusbury by the English Jesuit Thomas Plowden
. It was printed by William Leybourn
and sold by Thomas Dring
.
, also furnished a Latin translation that was first printed in Lyons (1672) and then served as a scholastic edition brought out in Cologne in 1674 "opusculum docentibus atque ac discentibus utile ac necessarium". To this was added a second translation into Latin by Johann Georg Hoffmann for the German world.
appeared in Madrid (1678) and was reprinted in Barcelona (1744).
and father of Nicolaas Bidloo
. He undertook a translation of this Baroque touchstone
in his old age. This remarkable Dutch translation, accompanied by a host of poetical compositions by literary contemporaries, appeared in Amsterdam in 1722.
Daniello Bartoli
thumb|right| Daniello Bartoli "Obiit Romae, die 13 Januarii, anno 1685, aet. 77"Daniello Bartoli was an Italian Jesuit writer and historiographer, celebrated by Francesco de Sanctis as the "Dante of Italian prose".-Ferrara:He was born in Ferrara. His father, Tiburzio was a chemist associated with...
(1608-1685) is a two-part treatise on the man of letters bringing together material he had assembled as a teacher of rhetoric and a preacher. His literary success with this work led to his appointmernt in Rome as the official historiographer of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
.
Part I defends his high status under two headings, La Sapienza felice anche nelle Miserie and L'Ignoranza misera anche nelle Felicita. Part II emends his faults, taking particular aim at excesses of the precious baroque style then in vogue. Its chapters are Ladroneccio, Lascivia, Maldicenza, Alterezza, Dapoccaggine, Imprudenza, Ambitione, Avarizia, Oscurita.
Italian
In 1645 the appearance of Bartoli's first book initiated an international literary sensation. The work quickly inserted itself in the regional literary debates of the time, with an unauthorized Florentine edition (1645) dedicated to Salvator RosaSalvator Rosa
Salvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
soon challenged by a Bolognese edition (1646) dedicated to Virgilio Malvezzi
Virgilio Malvezzi
Virgilio Malvezzi was an Italian historian and essayist, soldier and diplomat, born in Bologna. He became court historian to Philip IV of Spain. He used the anagram-pseudonym Grivilio Vezzalmi.-Life:He fought for the Spanish forces in Flanders....
. Over the following three decades and beyond there were another thirty printings at a dozen different Italian presses, especially Venetian, of which half a dozen "per Giunti, e Baba" with a signature frontispiece title illustration.(Here right)
Bartoli's literary "how to" book spread its influence well beyond the geographical and literary confines of Italy. During the process of her conversion to Roman Catholicism at the hands of the Jesuits in 1651 Christina, Queen of Sweden specifically requested a copy of this celebrated work be sent to her in Stockholm.
It seems to have fulfilled the Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
dream of an energetic rhetorical eloquence to which the age aspired. Through its gallery of exemplary stylizations and picturesque moral encouragements it defends and emends not only the aspiring letterato, but also an updated classicism open to modernity, but diffident of excess. The book's international proliferation made it a vehicle of the cultural ascendancy of the Jesuits as modern classicists during the Baroque. Years later, Bartoli provided a revision for the collected edition. After Bartoli's death the editions and translations continued to appear, particularly in the Ottocento.
In Bartoli's lifetime and beyond his work was also translated extensively, by men of letters of other nationalities, Jesuits and non-Jesuits.
French
The French translation by Thomas LeBlanc, S.J. first appeared in 1651 as L'Homme de lettres (Pont-a-Mousson). In 1654 it was reprinted under the more galant title, La Guide des Beaux Esprits. The fifth edition of 1669 was dedicated to Charles Le Jay, Baron de Tilly. In the next century there was a second translation as L'homme de lettres by the Barnabite writer, T. Delivoy: (Paris: Herissant, 1769).German
There was a German translation without Bartoli's name by Georg Adam von Kufstein (1605-1656) of the Weimar language academy Fruitbearing SocietyFruitbearing Society
The Fruitbearing Society was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility to emulate the idea of the Accademia della Crusca in Florence and similar groups already thriving in Italy, to be followed in later years also in France and Britain...
(Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft) (Nurnberg, 1654).
English
The London edition of 1660 celebrating the RestorationRestoration (1660)
The term Restoration in reference to the year 1660 refers to the restoration of Charles II to his realms across the British Empire at that time.-England:...
and dedicated to George Monck, was translated under the name of Thomas Salusbury by the English Jesuit Thomas Plowden
Thomas Plowden
Thomas Plowden was an English Jesuit to whom has been traditionally attributed an important translation under the name of Thomas Salusbury.-Life:...
. It was printed by William Leybourn
William Leybourn
William Leybourn was an English mathematician and land surveyor.-Career as a printer:In 1651 Leybourn entered into a business partnership with Robert Leybourn as a printer and seller of books...
and sold by Thomas Dring
Thomas Dring
Thomas Dring was a London publisher and bookseller of the middle seventeenth century. He was in business from 1649 on; his shop was located "at the sign of the George in Fleet Street, near St...
.
Latin
The French Jesuit Louis Janin, who provided Latin translations of Bartoli's Istoria della Compagnia di GesuIstoria della Compagnia di Gesu
The monumental Istoria della Compagnia di Gesu , in 6 folio volumes by the Jesuit man of letters and historian Daniello Bartoli is the most extensive classic of Italian literature, over ten thousand pages long...
, also furnished a Latin translation that was first printed in Lyons (1672) and then served as a scholastic edition brought out in Cologne in 1674 "opusculum docentibus atque ac discentibus utile ac necessarium". To this was added a second translation into Latin by Johann Georg Hoffmann for the German world.
Spanish
A Spanish version by the noted priest musician Gaspar SanzGaspar Sanz
Gaspar Sanz was an Aragonese composer, guitarist, organist and priest born to a wealthy family in Calanda in the Spanish comarca of Bajo Aragón. He studied music, theology and philosophy at the University of Salamanca, where he was later appointed Professor of Music...
appeared in Madrid (1678) and was reprinted in Barcelona (1744).
Dutch
The Mennonite patriarch, Lambert Bidloo (1638-1724), an apothecary like Bartoli's father, was the brother of Govert BidlooGovert Bidloo
Govert Bidloo or Govard Bidloo was a Dutch Golden Age physician, anatomist, poet and playwright. He was the personal physician of William III of Orange-Nassau, Dutch stadholder and king of England....
and father of Nicolaas Bidloo
Nicolaas Bidloo
Nicolaas Bidloo was a Dutch physician who served as the personal physician of Tsar Peter I of Russia . Bidloo was the director of the first hospital in Russia as well as the first medical school in Russia, and is considered one of the founders of Russian medicine.- Early years :Bidloo came from a...
. He undertook a translation of this Baroque touchstone
Touchstone (metaphor)
As a metaphor, a touchstone refers to any physical or intellectual measure by which the validity or merit of a concept can be tested. It is similar in use to an acid test, litmus test in politics, and a shibboleth.-Touchstone in literature:...
in his old age. This remarkable Dutch translation, accompanied by a host of poetical compositions by literary contemporaries, appeared in Amsterdam in 1722.