Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/302

 GUARNERI GUATEMALA his comedy Uldropica, his dialogue R segreta- rio, his Rime and Lettere, but particularly the drama U pastor fido, which passed through 40 editions in his lifetime, has been translated into nearly all European languages, and found many imitators, although itself an imitation of Tasso's Aminta. An incomplete edition of his works appeared at Verona in 1737-'8 (4 vols. 4to) ; his Trattato delta politico, libertd was first print- ed at Venice in 1818, with his life by Ruggieri. GUARNERI, or GnarneriDS, the name of a fam- ily living at Cremona in the 17th century, some of whose members are celebrated as violin ma- kers. ANDREA, born about 1630, worked at his art from 1650 to about 1695. His instru- ments are mostly inscribed Andreas Guarne- rius fecit Cremona sub titulo Sanctce Teresa. He was a pupil of Nicol6 Amati, whose work- manship he imitated with some slight differ- ences of detail. The tone of his instruments is sweet but not powerful. They rank in the second class. GIUSEPPE, his son and pupil, in middle life made his instruments like those of Stradivarius, and later imitated his cousin Giu- seppe Antonio. PIETBO, second son of An- drea, lived at Cremona till 1700, and then at Mantua, and his violins bear the names of both these cities. He worked from 1690 to 1725, and his instruments were inferior to those of his father. GIUSEPPE ANTONIO, nephew of Andrea, born June 8, 1683, was a pupil of Stradivarius, and the most renowned of the family. He possessed genius, but led an irreg- ular life, much of it marked by idleness and intemperance, and a part of it spent in prison, where he died in 1745. Naturally his produc- tions were unequal, some of them being of consummate workmanship, and others poor in material used and in method of construction. These last belong to the later years of his life, his prison days. He worked from 1725 to 1745, and his violins were mostly inscribed " Giuseppe Guarnerius, Andreas Nepos. I. H- S." From the use of this latter symbol he was common- ly known in Italy as Guarneri del Gesu. His earlier works do not show much care either in the choice of woods or the varnish. Many of those made in his middle epoch are superb, distinguished for harmony of form, beauty of color, the care with which the different woods composing the instruments were selected, and the adaptation of the curves and thickness to the production of the finest tone. To these noble instruments succeeded others inferior in all respects. Paganini and A lard were both accustomed to use Guarnerius violins at their concerts. Violins and basses exist, dated from 1725 to 1740, made by PIETKO, son of Giuseppe. Gl ASTALLA, a town of Italy, in the prov- ince of Reggio, at the junction of the Cros- tolo and the Po, 18 m. N. E. of Parma ; pop. about 10,000. It is well built, is surround- ed by walls, and contains a cathedral, eight churches, a decayed castle, a public library, a theatre, a musical academy, and several ed- ucational and charitable institutions. It was founded by the Lombards, and during the mid- dle ages passed successively into the hands of several Italian families and states. Subsequent- ly it was made a fief of the German empire, and was raised to a duchy in 1621. By the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) it was given to Don Philip of Spain, duke of Parma. In 1796 the French united it and the surrounding region to the Cisalpine republic. In 1805 Na- poleon gave it to his sister Pauline, whose hus- band, the prince Borghese, was created duke of Guastalla. In 1815 the congress of Vienna allotted it, together with Parma and Piacenza, to the ex-empress Maria Louisa, upon whose death in 1847 it passed to the duke of Lucca, who in accordance with a previous arrange- ment ceded it to Modena, with which it was in 1860 incorporated into the dominions of Victor Emanuel. GUATEMALA. I. A republic of Central Amer- ica, lying between lat. 13 50' and 18 15' N"., and Ion. 88 14' and 93 12' W., bounded N. by Yucatan, E. by British Honduras, the bay of Honduras, and the republics of Honduras and San Salvador, S. by the Pacific ocean, and W. by the Mexican state of Chiapas. Its greatest length from N. E. to S. W. is 325 m., greatest breadth about 300 m. ; area estimated at 40,777 sq. m. ; pop. about 1,200,000. The Pacific coast presents a slightly convex line extending from S. E. to N. TV. ; the shore be- ing in some parts extremely low, and in others high and rocky, and bordered with a succes- sion of rocky barriers not far from the main- land. The Atlantic shore line is very irregu- lar, presenting here and there abrupt cliffs reaching to the very edge of the sea. Tl only port now frequented to any consideral extent on the Pacific side is that of San Jot which, however, has only an open roadster which affords no shelter for shipping ; debar- kation is at all times difficult, and sometimes