Books by Petrarch

The full compendium of Francesco Petrarch's poetic verses, rendered in English in this high quality edition, which also includes a biography of the great poet by Thomas Campbell.Notable for being the pivotal figure whose work commenced the Italian Renaissance, Francesco Petrarca's significance is gargantuan. His personal rediscovery of authentic correspondences written by the Roman statesman and legal scholar Cicero was the spark that set the enthusiasm for the arts and sciences alight throughout Italy and later much of Europe in a trend which would span centuries. Petrarch's personal creative proclivities were for poetry, a form in which he innovated and excelled. Serving as a model for later Italian poets such as Dante and Giovanni Boccaccio, Petrarch's poems are the vivid forebear of the wellspring of lyrical creativity which underpinned the Renaissance era. For Petrarch, his life's love and foremost poetic subject was Laura de Noves, a woman who for decades he considered a purely platonic muse.

The 'Canzoniere', a sequence of sonnets and other verse forms, were written over a period of about 40 years. They describe Petrarch's intense love for Laura, whom he first met in Avignon in 1327, and her effect on him after she died in 1348. The collection is an examination of the poet's growing spiritual crisis, and also explores important contemporary issues such as the role of the papacy and religion.