Andrelini, Publio Fausto

, or Publius Faustus Andrelinus, a modern Latin poet, was born at Forli, in Romagnia, about the middle of the fifteenth century. Having composed in his youth, at Rome, four books of poetry under the name of “Amours,” he was honoured with the poetic crown; in 1488 he came to Paris, and the following year was appointed professor of poetry and philosophy, and Lewis XII. of France made him his poet-laureat. He was likewise poet to the queen. His pen, however, was not wholly employed in making verses, for he wrote also moral and proverbial letters in prose, to which | Beatus Rhenanus added a preface, and commends them “as learned, witty, and useful; for though,” says he, “this author, in some of his works, after the manner of poets, is a little too loose and wanton, yet here he appears like a modest and elegant orator.” John Arboreus, a divine of Paris, published comments upon them. Andrelini wrote also several poetical distichs in Latin, which were printed with a commentary by Josse Badius Ascenscius, and translated verse for verse into French by one Stephen Prive. John Paradin had before translated into French stanzas of four verses, an hundred distichs, which Andrelim had addressed to John Ruze, treasurer-general of the finances of king Charles VIII. in order to thank him for a considerable pension.

The poems of Andrelini, which are chiefly in Latin, are inserted in the first tome of the “Deliciæ poetarum Italorum.” Mr. de la Monnoie tells us, that his love-­verses, divided into four books, entitled “Livia,” from the name of his mistress, were esteemed so fine by the Roman academy, that they adjudged the prize of the Latin elegy to the author.—It is upon this account, that when he printed his Livia, in quarto, at Paris, in 1490, and his three books of Elegies four years after, in the same city, he took upon him the title of poet-laureat, to which he added that of “poeta regius et regineus,” as he was poet to Charles VIII. Lewis XII. and queen Anne IV. The distichs of Faustus (continues the same author) are not above two hundred) and consequently but a very small part of his poems, since, besides the four books of Love, and three books of Miscellaneous Elegies, there are twelve Eclogues of his printed in octavo, in 1549, in the collection of thirtyeight Bucolic Poets, published by Oporinus. The death of Andrelini is placed under the year 1518. The letters which he wrote in proverbs have been thought worth a new edition at Helmstadt in 1662, according to that of Cologn of 1509. The manner of life of this author was not very exemplary; yet he was so fortunate, says Erasmus, that though he took the liberty of rallying the divines, he was never brought into trouble about it. ¹