Poggio

Poggio, Giovanni Francesco, otherwise Bracciolini (1380-1459), an Italian scholar, was born near Florence, and when twenty-two years old entered the Papal service as secretary of Boniface IX. His enthusiasm for the classics and his great learning led to his instituting searches for copies of ancient works in the monasteries of Italy and other countries, particularly at St. Gallen, and he made some remarkable discoveries, including Quintilian's Institutions, the greater portion of Lucretius' De Reruin Natura, eight orations of Cicero, twelve comedies of Plautus, etc. His bad temper and quarrelsome disposition, however, embroiled him with many scholars and injured his contemporary renown. In 1417 he came to England, where he resided awhile. He died at Florence, of whose republic he was chancellor, and among his best-known works, which are all in Latin, are his History of Florence and his very gross Facelice.