GEMINIANI, FRANCESCO (c. Italian vio linist, was a native of Lucca, and studied the violin under Lunati (Gobbo) and afterwards under Corelli. He may also have had lessons in composition from Scarlatti. In 1714 he arrived in London, where he found a patron in the earl of Essex. In 1715 he played his violin concertos with Handel at the English court and later spent much time in Dublin, where he had a fine house in which he gave private concerts. After visiting Paris and resid ing there for some time, he returned to England in 1755. On a visit to Dublin in 1761 a servant robbed him of a manuscript, an incident which is said to have hastened his death (Sept. 17, 1762). Geminiani brought to England great improvements in the technique of violin-playing, and he handed down his method in the first book on the subject, his Art of Playing the Violin.