Humanistic and Political Literature in Florence and Venice at the Beginning of the Quattrocento: Studies in Criticism and Chronology

Description

Re-examining Latin and Italian literature of 1400 in the light of contemporary political events and experiences, the author arrives at substantial corrections of the accepted views of the genesis and chronology of many early humanistic and political writings. Intensively presented, the book treats such subjects as the date of Antonio Loschi's Invectiva in Florentinos and of Gregorio Dati's Istoria di Firenze, both of which are established by means of literary detective work. About half of the book is devoted to a discussion of Leonardo Bruni's works—disputed versions, dates, origins. Providing a background for these studies is the struggle for political power and freedom carried on by the highly-developed Italian city-states, centered chiefly between Florence and Giangaleazzo of Milan, and expressed in part through an interchange of biting pamphlets and learned dialogues. This important work provides correlative evidence of the evolution of humanism during the Italian Renaissance.