MARANA, JOHN PAUL, an ingenious writer of
the 17th century, was of a distinguished family, and
born at Genoa; where he received an education suit-
able to his birth, and made great progress in the
study of polite literature and the sciences. Having
been engaged in the conspiracy of Raphael della
Terra, to deliver up Genoa to the duke of Savoy,
he was in 1670, when 28 years of age, imprisoned
in the tower of that city, and remained there four
years. Being at length set at liberty, he was or-
dered to write the history of that conspiracy; but,
when finished, it was seized and prevented from being
published. When the republic of Genoa was at va-
riance with the court of France, Marana, who had
always an inclination for that court, was afraid of
being imprisoned a second time; and retired to Mo-
naco, where he again wrote the history of the con-
spiracy in Italian; and, in 1682, went to Lyons to
get it printed. From Lyons he went to Paris, where
his merit soon acquired him powerful protectors. He
spent the rest of his life in a happy and tranquil
mediocrity, devoted to study and the society of men
of learning; and died in 1693. His history of the
conspiracy contains many curious and interesting anec-
dotes. He also wrote several other works; the most
known of which is the Turkish Spy, in six volumes
12mo, which was in 1742 augmented to seven. Of
this ingenious work we have an excellent English
translation.