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The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Pietro Bembo (1470–1547)
Bembo, Pietro (bem’bō). A celebrated Italian humanist; born in Venice, May 20, 1470; died in Rome, Jan. 18, 1547. In 1513 he became secretary of Latin letters to Pope Leo X.; the Venetian republic appointed him in 1530 State historiographer. His poetical works, Latin and Italian, are marked rather by elegance of style, purity of idiom, and correctness of taste, than by force of originality of thought or liveliness of fancy. His works include a ‘History of Venice, 1487–1513,’ and a number of poems, dialogues, and essays. There are 16 books of his ‘Latin Letters’ written in the name of Leo X.