Author: Guarini, Giovanni Battista
Biography:
GUARINI, Giovanni Battista (1538-1612: EB)
An Italian court poet, he was born on 10 Dec. 1538 at Ferrara, Italy, to Francesco Guarini and his wife Orsina Macchiavelli. He was educated at the University of Padua before being named professor of rhetoric and poetics at the University of Ferrara in 1577. He married Taddea Bendidio; they had at least three children but Guarini later quarrelled with his son, Alessandro, and his daughter, Anna, was murdered in 1598 by her husband. Guarini was a ducal courtier for the Duke of Ferrara and he became the official court poet. In later life he retired to his country estate, La Guarina, near Ferrara; it was there that he wrote his best-known work, Il Pastor Fido, a pastoral drama. Guarini died in Venice on 7 Oct. 1612. Il Pastor Fido was translated into English many times, particularly in the seventeenth century. The 1782 translation included in this bibliography is attributed to W. Grove, who is otherwise unknown. The 1809 translation was completed by William Clapperton, q.v., a language teacher, poet, and editor. (EB; Gaetana Marrone, Encyclopedia of Italian Literary Studies [2007]) SR
Other Names:
- Battista Guarini