ADRIANI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA Ital ian historian, was born of a patrician family of Florence, and was secretary to the republic. At the instance of Cosimo I. he wrote Istoria de'suoi tempi (1583; modern ed. 1872), covering the years 1536 to See G. M. Mazzucchelli, Gli Scrittori d'Italia, i. p. 151 (1753).