Simone Assemani and Giovanni Bernardo De Rossi, the most famous and important Hebrew language scholar of his time in the Italian Catholic sphere, were in correspondence for about 25 years (1788-1814). The paper is focused on their letters, in particular on the main topics discussed by the two scholars: the controversy with Oluf Gerhard Tychsen over the so-called "Chair of St. Peter" (a marble seat located in the Basilica of St. Peter of Castello in Venice), the so-called "Arabic imposture” of Giuseppe Vella and the communication of literary news
