Anglo-Italian interdisciplinary networks 1765-1767. Frisi, Beccaria, the Verris and the Fellows of the Royal Society

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to shed light on an under-researched area of study: that of the relations that the leading members of the «Caffé» – Paolo Frisi, Cesare Beccaria and the Verri – established with the Royal Society’s Anglo-Italian circles in 1765-1767. These were generally men of science, even though it is also possible to detect the signs of their interest in the socio-legal topics underlying the iconic Dei delitti e delle pene. Building upon a complex epistolary network, as well as a series of unpublished materials, we shall try to show that Father Frisi was at the heart of the creation of a transnational cultural bridge between Milan and London, and that despite their stronger ties with Paris and its philosophes, Beccaria and the Verris benefited from these exceptional contacts. The picture that we shall draw will clarify the role of learned academies in eighteenth-century Europe, on the interdisciplinary nature of intellectual exchanges, particularly on the international milieu where the «book of crimes» was translated into English.