BALDUCCI, NICOLA. - Ascetic writer, born in Rome at the beginning of the 17th century, died in 1684. Apostolic acolyte, then Oratorian, he was esteemed for his piety and learning. As a deputy of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, he presented to Urban VIII the reverential letters of the newly converted king of Congo. A friend of Cardinal Petrucci, he had relations with the Quietist Malaval (q.v.). He wrote extensively, but no complete bibliography of his works (original and translations) exists, since many were published anonymously or under a pseudonym.
Among his original works are to be noted: *Il Battesimo spirituale*, i.e. considerations on the ceremonies, etc., Rome 1668, under the pseudonym Baldo Nicolucci, to which he later added: *Riflessioni sopra il Battesimo spirituale*; *Vita di due venerabili servi di Dio, Angelo Fiorucci e Bartolomeo Tanari* (Rome 1671, under the pseudonym Lucio Labacci); *Vita di s. Nilo* (Rome 1628); *Cento considerazioni sopra la dignità sacerdotale* (n.p., n.d.); *Compendio della vita di s. Filippo Neri* (under the pseudonym Giovanni Torri; n.p., n.d.); *Soliloqui devoti sopra la Passione* (n.p., n.d.). He also published *Ignitum cum Deo soliloquium*... by P. Gerlach (q.v.). He translated the *Lettere del B. Giovanni d'Avila* (part 3), prefacing them with a compendium of the saint’s life (n.p., n.d.).
He is also credited with oratories, spiritual poems, novenas, and meditations. Among his unpublished works, manuscripts are preserved in the Vallicelliana Library in Rome.
In good faith, he disseminated Quietist ideas in Italy through his translations, which were placed on the Index in 1688: the works of F. Malaval (*Pratica facile in forma di dialogo per elevare l'anima alla contemplazione*, Rome 1672, under the pseudonym Don Lucio Labacci) and of G. Falconi (*Alfabeto per saper leggere in Cristo libro di vita eterna*, Rome 1665, anonymous).