“The present beautiful edition of these poems has been prepared by a gentleman named Panizzi, one of those Italians who have been obliged to fly their country for their political opinions—a circumstance, by the way, as our readers must be aware, no ways conclusive in proof of the moral dignity of the exiled patriots’ souls. Anytus, we know, was one of the men of the Piræus who delivered Athens from her Thirty Tyrants, and yet Anytus was afterwards one of the accusers of Socrates! To this a case somewhat parallel will presently appear. In his own country Mr. Panizzi was, as we are assured, utterly unknown as a man of letters; here, through the patronage of the ex-Chancellor chiefly, he enjoys the barren honour of being professor of Italian in the University of London, and the substantial situation of one of the Under-Librarians of the British Museum. He is also, we understand, engaged for a handsome remuneration to catalogue the library of the Royal Society,—two appointments which gave great offence to those narrow-minded persons who think that charity should begin at home, and that deserving Englishmen of letters, who have families to support, and are able to write out the titles of books as well as a foreigner, might have been found without any very anxious search. Be this as it may, Mr. Panizzi, we believe, performs the duties of his office in a most efficient manner, and he is not ungrateful, but seems perfectly content with his lot, for while his “co-mates and brothers in exile” are sighing after the beautiful country they have lost, not a murmur or a sigh ever escapes _him_. Mr. Panizzi writes and speaks English with facility, as is proved by the present work, though what motive but vanity could have induced him to employ it in preference to his beautiful mother-language, we are unable to conceive; for, surely, any one who is curious about the original text of the _Orlando Innamorato_, must feel rather offended than otherwise at being presented with English notes. This dexterity in writing our language has also tempted Mr. Panizzi to become a reviewer: and here it is that his character appears in a most unpleasant light, and he becomes, as we have just hinted, a kind of literary Anytus. In conversation and in writing he is the incessant, and we may add virulent, assailant of the literary reputation of his illustrious compatriot, Rossetti, whose Comment on Dante, that extraordinary monument of erudition and sagacity, he would fain make the world believe to be a tissue of ignorance and absurdity. Nay, should any friend of Mr. Panizzi’s even hint that he is disposed to regard Rossetti’s system as well founded, his own works, if he has published any, will be made to feel the wrath of the learned librarian. But we leave the critic, and turn to the essayist and annotator.’”