- Introduction
- Petrarca’s Languages
- Petrarca’s Latin Education and Classical Studies
- The Familiar Letters and Letters of Old Age
- Petrarca and Gherardo: Man of the World and Man of God
- Petrarca’s Hopes for Rome and Italy
- Death and Mortality
- Notes
- I. On His Letters
- 1. To his Socrates
- 2. To Francesco of the Holy Apostles, arguing that loyalty is enough in exchanges between friends and one should not aim for style
- 3. To his Socrates, the closure of this book
- 4. To his dear Simonides, a preface
- II. His Life and World
- 1. To Dionigi of Borgo Sansepolcro of the Order of Saint Augustine and Professor of Sacred Scriptures, concerning his own anxieties
- 2. To Giovanni Colonna of the Order of Preachers, that one should not love sects but the truth, and concerning the famous places of the city of Rome
- 3. To his Socrates, in lamentation over the unprecedented outbreak of the plague that has occurred in their time
- 4. To his own brother Gherardo, a Carthusian monk, an exhortation
- 5. To Giovanni Boccaccio, on the plague of the recent age, and the folly of astrologers
- 6. To Luca da Penne, papal secretary, about the texts of Cicero
- 7. To Giovanni Boccaccio, on his intention of crossing the Alps
- 8. To Philippe, bishop of Cavaillon, in friendly mood
- 9. To the same, that one should avert envy by going into hiding
- 10. To the same
- 11. To the same
- 12. To Francesco of the Holy Apostles, about his rustic and solitary life
- 13. To Stefano Colonna, provost of Saint Omer, on the troubled condition of almost the whole world
- 14. To Guido Sette, archbishop of Genoa, a detailed account of his own condition
- 15. An incorrigible youth is severely reproached and denied permission to return to his home
- 16. To Pandolfo Malatesta, who had invited him to healthy places in a time of plague
- 17. To Giovanni Boccaccio of Certaldo, on not breaking off study because of old age
- III. The Scholar and Man of Letters
- 1. To Giovanni dell’Incisa, charging him to search for manuscripts
- 2. To Giovanni Colonna, cardinal of the Roman Church, consulting him on where to accept the laurel crown
- 3. To the same, in confirmation of his advice
- 4. To Giacomo Colonna, bishop of Lombez, on the same topic
- 5. To Robert, king of Sicily, concerning his laurel crown, and against those who always praise the ancients and despise contemporaries
- 6. To Barbato of Sulmona, royal secretary, concerning the same crown of laurel
- 7. A dispute with a certain well-known man, against those who display borrowed knowledge and those who pick out fancy flowers
- 8. To the same, the rest of the controversy, and a memory of his studies at Bologna
- 9. To Giacomo of Florence, on Cicero and his works
- 10. To Francesco of the Holy Apostles, on the happy outcome of his business in the Curia, and the three styles
- 11. To Peter, abbot of Saint-Bénigne, on the same question, and on the incurable addiction to writing
- 12. To Nicholas Sigeros, magistrate of the Greeks, thanks for the delivery of the book of Homer
- 13. To Crotus, grammarian from Bergamo, concerning Cicero’s book called The Tusculan Investigations and praise for that great man
- 14. To Marco of Genoa, an encouragement to persevere in the course of study he has begun, and discussion of ancient orators and legal experts, and the lawyers of our age
- 15. To Neri Morando of Forlì, congratulating him on his restored health and advising him to avoid dangerous effort, and much besides about Petrarch’s own acute personal misfortune
- 16. To Giovanni [Boccaccio] of Certaldo, self-exoneration against the slander cast upon him by envious men
- 17. To Francesco of the Holy Apostles, on the mingling of the sacred and profane styles
- 18. To Giovanni [Boccaccio] of Certaldo, that a writer is often more easily deceived about what he knows intimately, and on the law of imitation
- 19. To the same, about the young man whom he employs as an assistant in writing, and that no work is so well corrected that it lacks nothing
- 20. To the same, on the plague of the recent age and the folly of astrologers
- 21. To the same, on the instability of human decisions
- 22. To the same, on the terrible death of a pitiable friend
- 23. To Federico of Arezzo, concerning some inventions of Vergil
- IV. The Moralist
- 1. To Bruno of Florence, that the judgments of lovers are blind
- 2. Reclaiming a friend from dangerous love affairs
- 3. To his Socrates, that everything should be shared with one’s friend, and in particular one’s friendships
- 4. To Guido Gonzaga, lord of Mantua, that love evens out disparities
- 5. To Niccolosio of Lucca, that virtue and renown for virtue is the best recommendation of friendship
- 6. To both Niccola and Giovanni, in exhortation to mutual friendship and their original love
- 7. To Pandolfo Malatesta the Younger, Lord of Rimini, whether it is appropriate to take a wife and what kind to choose
- 8. To Lombardo della Seta, on residing in the country or the town
- 9. To his dear Socrates, about a vision by night, arguing that poverty in leisure should be preferred to wealth in anxiety
- 10. To his Socrates, against those who urge in favor of desires
- 11. To Olympius, exhorting him to moderation in his desires, arguing that one should not postpone plans to live a better life
- 12. To Francesco Bruni of Florence, that there is scope for virtue and glory in both poverty and wealth
- 13. To Giovanni of Arezzo, chancellor of the lords of Mantua, expanding on the same theme [the death of Giacomo da Carrara]
- 14. To Peter of Poitou, on the changes of Fortune, arguing that they derive from a change in customs, and in particular in military discipline
- 15. To Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, in consolation for the death of his brother Giacomo, that most illustrious man
- 16. To Giovanni of Arezzo, why it is that we want to do one thing, but do another
- Note on the Text and Notes
- Notes to the Translation
- Concordances
- Bibliography
- Index
THE I TATTI RENAISSANCE LIBRARY
The I Tatti Renaissance Library 76
Selected Letters, Volume 1
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Publication Date: 02/20/2017
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