CAPPELLETTI, GIUSEPPE

He initially devoted himself to the history of Armenia, translating historical works (Eliseo, Armenian historian of the 5th century, translated into Italian, Venice 1840; Mosè di Korb, Armenian historian of the 5th century, translated into Italian, ibid. 1841) and publishing other writings on that country (L'Armenia, Florence 1841; Storia ecclesiastica armena, ibid. 1842). In 1844, taking up the design of the Italia sacra by Ughelli, he began his major work Le Chiese d'Italia dalla loro origine ai nostri giorni (21 vols., Venice 1844–70), dedicating it to King Carlo Alberto. Although quite imperfect and lacking in critical rigor (Lanzoni, I, 24), this work remains useful today thanks to the numerous documents it provides for individual Italian dioceses. He also wrote various works on Venetian history, such as: Storie delle chiese di Venezia (13 vols., ibid. 1849–56); three of his works were placed on the Index: Contro lo anonimo autore del libello intitolato: Il mechitarista di S. Lazzaro di Venezia (decree 1853); I Gesuiti e la Repubblica di Venezia (decree 1873); Breve storia di Venezia condotta sino ai nostri giorni a facile istruzione popolare (decree 1874).