Selected Letters, Volume 2

We naturally think of Petrarca first as a poet. But he was much more than that. The first of the great scholar-poets of the Renaissance, Petrarca was instrumental in establishing as a cultural goal the rediscovery and collection of manuscripts of the ancient Latin authors; thanks to Petrarca the humanist scholars who followed him became the main conduit for the transmission and revitalization of classical learning, a necessary condition of the wider European Renaissance. Even more significant was Petrarca's role in shaping the literary movement that became known as humanism, a movement that for centuries promoted the study and cultivation of Latin literature. A charismatic figure with a gift for friendship, his life - revealed above all in his letters - became a model for how to live a literary life, how to reconcile the study of pagan literature with sincere Christian belief, and how the study of ancient languages and literatures could serve both true religion and the public world of princes and republics, as well as promote moral excellence in mankind as a whole. He gave the humanities a set of ideals that they fed upon for centuries. He taught how the civic virtues and philosophical wisdom of the pagans could be combined with Christian teachings to produce a a richer civilization. He taught that the humanistic study of antiquity could transform lives and bring back virtue as a personal and public ideal. He more than anyone planted the great tree of Christian classicism which flourished in the West down to modern times.--
Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), one of the greatest of Italian poets, was also the leading spirit in the Renaissance movement to revive the cultural and moral excellence of ancient Greece and Rome. This two-volume set contains an ample, representative sample from his enormous and fascinating correspondence with all the leading figures of his day, from popes, emperors, and kings to younger contemporaries such as Cola di Rienzi and Giovanni Boccaccio. The letters illustrate the remarkable story of Petrarca’s life in a Europe beset by war, plague, clerical corruption, and political disintegration. The ninety-seven letters in this selection, all freshly translated, cover the full range of Petrarca’s interests, including the rediscovery of lost classical texts, the reform of the Church, the ideal prince, education in the classics, and the revival of ancient moral philosophy. They include Petrarca’s imaginary correspondence with the ancient authors he loved so well, and his autobiographical Letter to Posterity.
Francesco Petrarca (1304–1374), one of the greatest of Italian poets, was also the leading spirit in the Renaissance movement to revive the cultural and moral excellence of ancient Greece and Rome. This two-volume set contains an ample, representative sample from his enormous and fascinating correspondence with all the leading figures of his day.