Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letters

This volume was published in 1905 and contains a selection
from his correspondence with Boccaccio and other friends,
designed to illustrate the beginnings of the Renaissance.
Translated from the original Latin, together with historical introductions and notes.
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Book Excerpt:

The purpose of this volume is essentially
historical. It is not a piece of literary
criticism ; it is only incidentally a biography.
It has been prepared with the single but
lively hope of making a little clearer the devel-
opment of modern culture. It views Petrarch
not as a poet, nor even, primarily, as a many-
sided man of genius, but as the mirror of his
age a mirror in which are reflected all the
momentous contrasts between waning Medi-
aevalism and the dawning Renaissance.

Petrarch knew almost everyone worth know-
ing in those days ; consequently few historical
sources can rival his letters in value and inter-
est ; their character and significance are dis-
cussed at length in the introduction which
follows.

We have ourselves come to love the eager,
independent, clear-sighted, sensitive soul
through whose eyes we have followed the initial
spiritual struggle of modern times ; we would
that others might learn to love him too.

In the preparation of this volume the edit-
ors have naturally availed themselves of the
excellent edition of Petrarch's Epistola de
Rebus Familiaribus et Varia, by Giuseppe
Fracassetti, 3 vols., 8, Florence, 1859-63. For
the Epistola de Rebus Senilibus, and the remain-
ing Latin works, they have necessarily relied
upon the lamentably incorrect edition of the
Opera printed at Basle in 1581, for in spite of
its imperfections it is the most complete col-
lection of Petrarch's writings that we possess.
The references in the foot-notes are, therefore,
to the pages of Fracassetti's edition or of that
of 1581, as the case may be. Much aid has
been derived from Korting's standard work,
Petrarca's Leben und Werke ; from Fracas-
setti's elaborate notes to his Italian version of
the letters ; from Voigt's masterly analysis of
Petrarch's character and career, at the opening
of Die Wiederbelebung des classischen Alter-
thums ; and especially from M. Pierre de Nol-
hac's scholarly and fascinating study, Petrarque
et l' Humanisme.

Part third of the present volume, upon Pe-
trarch's classical studies, is the work of Mr.
Rolfe, and the whole book has had the benefit
of his acute and painstaking revision.

J. H. R.
Birchwood, Jaffrey N. H.,
September, 1898.
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Francesco Petrarca (July 20, 1304 – July 19, 1374), known in English as Petrarch, was an Italian scholar, poet and one of the earliest Renaissance humanists. Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism". In the 16th century, Pietro Bembo created the model for the modern Italian language based on Petrarch's works, as well as those of Giovanni Boccaccio and, especially, Dante Alighieri. This would be later endorsed by the Accademia della Crusca. His sonnets were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance and became a model for lyrical poetry. Petrarch was also known for being one of the first people to refer to the Dark Ages.**

**....summary from wikipedia