TIRABOSCHI, Gineramo, an eminent Italian author, was b. at Bergamo, Dec. 28, 1731, studied at Monza, and afterward entered the order of the Jesuits. Toward 1766 he was appointed professor of rhetoric at Milan, where he wrote his first work, Vetera aumiliatorum Monurnenta (1766); and in 1770 succeeded father Granelli in the post of librarian to the duke of Modena. Tiraboschi now availed himself of the rich stores of the ducal library, besides making extensive researches in other archives, to compose his Storia della Letteratura Italian (History of Italian Literature), which began to appear In 1772, and was finished in 1783 in 13 vols. It embraces the history both of ancient and modern Italy, and is especially valuable for the light which it throws upon the intellectual condition of the Peninsula during the dark ages, and the brilliant period from Dante to Tasso. Tiraboschi ends his elaborate survey with the close of the 17th
century. It is impossible to praise too highly the learning and the conscientious accuracy of the author, even although the circumstance that many of the epochs have since been made the subject of minute and special inquiries, necessitates a revision of parts of the work. A second edition was edited by Tiraboschi (1787-94), and abridged translations have appeared in French and German. The best edition is that published at Milan (16 vols., 1822-26). A continuation embracing the literature of the 18th c. was written by Lombardi (Storia della Letteratura Italian nel Secolo XVIII.). Tiraboschi died at Modena, June 3, 1794. Other works by this author are Bthlioteca Modene,se (6 vols., Mod. 1781-86); and Memorie Storkhe Modenesi (3 vols., Mod. 1793).