Maffei

Maffei, FRANCESCO SCIPIONE, MARCHESE DI, playwright and antiquary, was born at Verona, 1st June 1675, and studied in the Jesuit College at Parma. He spent the years 1703–4 in military service, under his brother Alessandro, a distinguished soldier and field-marshal, but ultimately devoted himself to literary pursuits. His tragedy of Merope (1714) was so well received that it went through seventy editions in his own lifetime. His comedy of Le Ceremonie (1728) was also successful. Verona Illustrata (1731–32; new ed. 1827) is a work of much brilliancy and learning. After four years in France (1732-36) he visited England, Holland, and Germany, then settled in his birth-place, where he died 11th February 1755. A collective edition of his works was published at Venice in 1790, in 21 vols.