FRANCESCO GIROLAMO CANCELLIERI. — Born in Rome on 10 Oct. 1751, died there on 29 Dec. 1826, buried in S. Giovanni in Laterano. His 161 published writings and 79 unpublished ones bear witness to his erudition, especially in the fields of ancient, medieval and modern Roman history, archaeology, hagiography and liturgy; yet they are often interspersed with lengthy digressions.
One of his earliest studies was the commentary on a newly discovered fragment of the histories of TITUS LIVY, concerning the war of SERTORIUS, found in a palimpsest of the Vatican Library by VITO GIOVENZI SJ and P. G. BRUNS: *Praefatio in T. Livii Hist. lib. XCI fragmentum d'vèx8070v descriptum et recognitum a cc. vv. Vito M. Giovenzzcin, Paulo Jac. Bruns, ex schedis vetustissimis Bibliotb. Vat.*, Rome 1783. For the construction of the new sacristy of the Vatican under Pius VI he wrote in 1786: *De secretariis Basilicae Vaticanae Veteris ac Novae libri duo*. In 1788 he printed a brief *Descrizione della basilica Vaticana* and the monograph *Notizie del carcere Tulliano*. In 1802 he composed the *Storia de' solenni possessi de' Sommi Pontefici da Leone III a Pio VII*, noteworthy for the information it provides on the Curia, the patrician families, the topography of Rome, etc.
After dealing in 1806 with the *Memorie storiche delle sacre teste dei ss. Apostoli Pietro e Paolo*, in 1812 he treated the *Memorie di s. Medico martire e cittadino di Orricoli*. In 1809 he published a *Dissertazione epistolare sopra due iscrizioni delle martiri Simplicia madre di Orsa e di un'altra Orsa* found in the cemeteries of S. Agnese and S. Ciriaco; in the *Effemeridi letterarie* of 1821 he issued a *Lettera al ch. sig. avvocato Fea sopra la pietra opistografa*, and in the *Effemeridi* of June 1823 a *Prospetto delle memorie istoriche della basilica ostiense di S. Paolo*. In that same year there appeared a pamphlet containing *Notizie sopra l'origine e l'uso dell'anello pescatorio e degli altri anelli ecclesiastici e specialmente del cardinalizio*.
Among his unpublished works many supply information on several churches of Rome; for example: *Le terme Diocleziane illustrate con le chiese ivi erette di S. Ciriaco e della Madonna degli Angeli* and *Memorie della statua di s. Ippolite M. vescovo di Porto e del ciclo pasquale in essa scolpito*.