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The Letters of Marsilio Ficino, v. 8 (Hardcover)
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The Letters of Marsilio Ficino, v. 8 (Hardcover)
Series: The Letters of Marsilio Ficino
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'[Ficino] was at the very fountainhead of some of the most
characteristic and influential aspects of the Italian Renaissance'
- "The Times Literary Supplement". Marsilio Ficino of Florence
(1433-99) was one of the most influential thinkers of the
Renaissance. He put before society a new ideal of human nature,
emphasizing its divine potential. As teacher and guide to a
remarkable circle of men, he made a vital contribution to changes
that were taking place in European thought. For Ficino, the
writings of Plato provided the key to the most important knowledge
for mankind, knowledge of God and the soul. It was the absorption
of this knowledge that proved so important to Ficino, to his
circle, and to later writers and artists. As a young man, Ficino
had been directed by Cosimo de' Medici towards the study of Plato
in the original Greek. Later he formed a close connection with
Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo de' Medici, under whom Florence achieved
its age of brilliance. Gathered round Ficino and Lorenzo were such
men as Landino, Bembo, Poliziano (with whom Ficino maintains a
correspondence in this volume) and Pico della Mirandola. The ideas
they discussed became central to the work of Spenser, Shakespeare,
Donne, Botticelli, Michelangelo, Raphael, Durer, and many other
writers and artists. This volume contains letters written in 1488
and 1489, with a preface added in the summer of 1490. There are
also four important letters written in 1489 not included in the
printed edition of his letters published in 1495, no doubt because
they concern Ficino's "Three Books on Life (De vita)" and were
published with it, together with a note to the reader printed
there. These five items are appended to the present volume
(Appendices A to E) as they help to complete the record of Ficino's
engagement with other scholars at this period. In addition, some
letters have been provided from his correspondents: Appendix F is
Poliziano's reply to a request for help, G is a letter from Valori,
and H is the covering letter Ficino wrote at the time he composed
Book I of De vita. Appendix letters I to K are from Ermolao
Barbaro, presenting the other side of the correspondence between
him and Ficino. They date from 1484, 1488 and 1491 but are given
together here. Appendix L presents another letter from Poliziano to
Ficino, and M to Q are letters of dedication written by Filippo
Valori for presentation copies of Ficino's work discussed in this
volume. Valori personally paid for these presentation copies and
for the publication in print of "De vita". Volume 8 in the
Shepheard-Walwyn edition, the first English translation of "The
Letters", corresponds with "Book IX" of the Latin edition.
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