VERCELLI, a town of Italy, in the province of Novara, lies 14 miles to the south-west of that town, on the river Sesia (here crossed by a bridge), at its junction with the Canterana. The walls by which Vercelli was formerly surrounded have been demolished, and their place is now occupied by boulevards, from which a fine view of the Alps (especially the Monte Rosa group) is obtained. The streets are for the most part tortuous and narrow; there is a large market-place (Piazza Cavour) with a statue of Cavour (1861). The cathedral is a large building dating from the 16th century; its library contains a number of rare ancient MSS., especially the Codex Vercellensis, one of the most important MSS. of the old Latin version of the Gospels, written in the 4th century by Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli. The churches of St Andrew (a Romano-Gothic building dating from 1219-24), St Paul, St Catherine, and St Christopher possess valuable examples of the work of Gaudenzio Ferrari, one of the principal ornaments of the Vercelli school of painting, which flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries, and to which belonged also Giovenoni, Defendente Ferrari, Lanini, and, one may almost add, Bazzi, who was a native of the town. Of the two hospitals of Vercelli one has a museum and botanical gardens; the town also has a lyceum, a gymnasium, a technical school, and a seminary. The leading industry is silk-spinning; and there is an active trade in the products of the surrounding district (silk, hemp, flax, and rice). The population in 1881 was 20,165 (commune, 21,169)....