MAFFEI, FrancescoScipione, Marchese di (1675- 1755), Italian archaeologist and man of letters, was born at Verona on June 1, 1675. He studied for five years in Parma at the Jesuit college, and afterwards from 1698 at Rome; and in 1703-4 he took part as a volunteer in the war of succession, fighting on the Bavarian side at Donauwerth. In 1709 he began at Padua along with Apostolo Zeno and Valisnieri the Giornale dei letterati d}Italia, a literary periodical which had but a short career 1 , and subsequently an acquaintance with the actor Riccoboni led him to exert himself for the improvement of dramatic art in Italy. His Merope, a tragedy, appeared in 1713; Teatro Italiano, a small collection of works for presentation on the stage, in 1723-25; and Le Ceremonie, an original comedy, in 1728. From 1718 he became specially interested in the archaeology of his native town, and his investigations resulted in the valuable Verona Illustrata (1731-32). Maffei afterwards devoted four years to travel in France, England, Holland, and Germany. He died at Verona on February 11, 1755. A list of his very numerous works will be found in the Biographie Generale. A complete edition of them appeared at Venice (28 vols. 8vo) in 1790.