BALDUCCI, NICOLA. — Ascetical writer, born in Rome at the beginning of the seventeenth century, died in 1684. An apostolic acolyte and later an Oratorian, he was esteemed for his piety and learning. As a deputy of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide, he presented Urban VIII with the reverential letters of the newly converted king of the Congo. A friend of Cardinal Petrucci, he was Malaval (v.). He wrote extensively, but no complete bibliography of his works (originals and translations) exists, since many of them were published anonymously or under a pseudonym.
Among his original works, the following should be mentioned: Il Battesimo spirituale, cioè considerazioni delle cerimonie, ecc., 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 (s.l.s.d.); Compendio della vita di s. Filippo Neri (under the pseudonym Giovanni Forti; s.l.s.d.); Soliloqui devoti sopra la Passione (s.l.s.d.). He also published Ignitum cum Deo soliloquium... by P. PETERS, GERLACH (v.). He also translated the Lettere del B. Giovanni d'Avila (part 3ᵃ), prefacing them with a compendium of the latter’s life (s.l.s.d.).
He is also credited with oratorios, spiritual poems, novenas, and meditations. The manuscripts of his unpublished works are held at the Vallicelliana Library in Rome.
He disseminated Quietist ideas in Italy, although in good faith, through his translations—placed on the Index in 1688—of 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 G. Falconi (Alfabeto per saper leggere in Cristo libro di vita eterna, Rome 1665, anonymous).