« In comodissimo volume, un gran tesoro di nozioni » : le Nuovo dizionario francese-italiano e italiano-francese (1886) du professeur Melzi

[Autom. eng. transl.] Professor, then director of the School of Modern Languages in Paris, professor of Italian at the Ecole Normale Supérieure de France, Giovanni Battista Melzi is the author of bilingual correspondence and conversation textbooks (Italian / French / English / Spanish / German) intended for the public of the merchant bourgeoisie of the late 19th century. The collaboration with Pierre Larousse is undoubtedly at the origin of his activity of lexicographer, which begins with the famous Universal Nuovo Vocabolario della lingua italiana (1880) and continues with a series of bilingual dictionaries in the main European languages. In our contribution, we will situate the bilingual lexicographic work of Melzi in relation to his previous works. The presentation of the Nuovo dizionario francese-italiano and italiano-francese commercial, scientifico, tecnico, militare, marinaresco (1886), who wanted to be a "Dizionario di comodo formato, poco costoso, containing the immenso materiale sparso in grossi Vocabolarii" ( Melzi 1886: V), will aim to show the modernity of this work, both at the formal level (format, typographic composition) and from the point of view of the lexicographical principles adopted.