Paolo Pedretti

In the early 19th century, Carlo Rosmini, a writer of history and biographies, devoted himself to study the lifes of Francesco Filelfo and Guarino of Verona. In Milan several scholars and book collectors were of great help to him with his research. Marquis Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, patron and in the end dedicatee of the book on Filelfo, gave him free access to his personal library. Pietro Mazzucchelli, scriptor and custos of the Ambrosiana Library, inspected catalogues and other sources for him and checked countless data, saving Rosmini from a lot of mistakes. The result of these joint efforts are two well-designed biographies: Vita e disciplina di Guarino Veronese, which has been superseded by Remigio Sabbadini’s books on Guarino a hundred year later, and Vita di Francesco Filelfo da Tolentino, which is basic up till now.