ADDISON, JOSEPH. - English man of letters, essayist, b. at Milston (Wiltshire) in 1672, d. at Kensington in 1719. He came from classical studies and in his youth made a learned humanist’s journey through Italy, recording it in his *Remarks on Several Parts of Italy* (1705), which was placed on the Index (17 July 1729), including the French translation *Remarques sur divers endroits d'Italie pour servir au voyage de monsieur Mison*, vol. IV (17 Jan. 1729), on account of the pessimistic, false, or exaggerated judgments he expressed against the Catholic clergy. He pursued a brilliant political career in the Whig party and in the final years of his life enjoyed a substantial pension granted by the government in power.
His fame is tied to the creation of *The Spectator*, the leading newspaper of the time, which he founded in collaboration with Richard Steele in 1711. A moderate Protestant and a typical representative of the middle class, Addison gave his articles a predominantly moralistic and popularizing character, inventing conventional yet often vividly artistic characters. His prose, even in its most straightforwardly informative aspects and in its moralistic aims, foreshadows the rich essayistic and narrative production of 18th-century England. Addison influenced our 18th-century moralists, foremost among them Gaspare Gozzi, who imitated him and lavished praise upon him.