Chapter «Facilità e chiarezza» o «nessun garbo di lingua»? Baretti e le Lettere familiari e critiche di Vincenzio Martinelli

Abstract

Tuscan intellectual Vincenzio Martinelli spent much of his life in London. A teacher of Italian, an amateur musicologist, a great conversationalist, he was also well-versed in the capital's social life. He frequented its most illustrious residences (Walpole, Burney, Townshend) and was a long-standing point of reference for Italians visiting the city, from Casanova to Alessandro Verri. His work Lettere familiari e critiche (1758) provides an enlightening picture of mid-18th-century English society. However, he and his work have always been overshadowed by the hasty judgment of Giuseppe Baretti, who was a friend but deplored his linguistic views. In reality, Martinelli’s Lettere represent a crucial step in the pursuit of a language moving towards conversation and scientific dissemination, in the wake of Galileo, Redi and Magalotti, which would soon be decisively confirmed by the choices made by the «Caffè group».