FOOTNOTES
[1] Recanati Poggii Vita, p. 1. Recanati Osservazioni, p. 34.
[2] Elogi degli Uomini Illustri Toscani, tom. i. p. 270. MS. in the Riccardi Library referred to by the Cavaliere Tonelli, tom. i. p. 3. of his translation of the Life of Poggio, which will be hereafter designated by the abridgment Ton. Tr.
[3] Recanati Poggii Vita, p. 1.
[4] Recanati indeed, on the authority of a letter addressed by an unknown antiquary to Benedetto de’ Bondelmonti, asserts, that the office of notary had been for some generations hereditary in the family of Poggio.—Recanati ut supr.
[5] See a fragment of a letter from Colucio Salutati to Pietro Turco. Apud Mehi Vitam Ambrosii Traversarii, fo. ccclxxix. ccclxxx.
[6] Giovanni, the son of Jacopo Malpaghino, was born at Ravenna. In his early youth he left his native city, and went to Venice, where he attended the lectures of Donato Albasano, a celebrated grammarian. From the instructions of Donato he derived considerable advantage; but his connexion with that scholar was more eminently fortunate, as it introduced him to the acquaintance, and procured him the friendship of Petrarca, who took him into his family, and superintended the prosecution of his studies. In return for the kindness of his accomplished patron, Giovanni undertook the improving employment of transcribing his compositions—a task for which he was well qualified, as he had added to his other acquirements that of a beautiful hand writing. Petrarca in a letter to Giovanni Certaldo, which is preserved in Mehus’s life of Ambrogio Traversari, mentions, with distinguished applause, the industry, temperance and prudence of his young scribe; and particularly commends the tenaciousness of his memory, in proof of which, he informs his correspondent, that Giovanni had, in eleven successive days, qualified himself to repeat his twelve Bucolic poems. Perhaps the highest eulogium that can be pronounced upon Giovanni is this, that he continued to reside in the family of Petrarca for the space of fifteen years, at the end of which time, by the death of that elegant enthusiast, he was deprived of an enlightened master and a zealous friend. On this event he went to Padua, where he for some time gained an honourable livelihood, by instructing youth in the principles of eloquence. In the year 1397, he received an invitation to undertake the office of public instructor, in the city of Florence. This invitation he accepted, and discharged the duties of his station with great applause, during the course of at least fifteen years. The time of his death is uncertain. Mehi Vita Ambrosii Traversarii, p. cccxlviii.-cccliii.—Ejusdem præfatio ad Colucii Salutati Epistolas, p. xli.
[7] Ton. Tr. tom. i. p. 7.
[8] Ton. Tr. tom. i. p. 10.
[9] Platina Vite de’ Pontefici, tom. i. p. 368.