This is the first comprehensive reference work on Italian literature to be published in English. With 2,400 entries from an international team of scholars, it provides a wealth of clear, up-to-date assessments of Italy's writers, famous and not so famous, from 1200 to 2000, whether they wrote in Italian, dialect, or Latin, together with vital background information on historical events, regional culture, and the other arts.

Peter Hainsworth's sparkling, eminently readable new English translation of The Book of the Courtier, Baldesar Castiglione's (14781529) literary and philosophical masterpiece, captures all the nuance, stylistic flair, and humor of this foundational work of Renaissance humanism. "Peter Hainsworth's fresh translation of The Book of the Courtier will gladden those who have known this quintessentially important work through the available translations that are, after several decades, somewhat dated. Hainsworth's version is more accessible to contemporary readers because, first, it is more easily read, and second, because it deftly places Castiglione's classic discussion of manners, gender roles, language, and love in historical context. Instructors especially will welcome the Introduction's establishment of the biographical, political, and cultural framework of Castiglione's dialogue; the explanatory notes that amply supply the information students will need to appreciate the conversation; and the guidance provided by an analytically enriched table of contents that groups the chapters meaningfully while highlighting the Courtier's principal themes. For 150 years, the ideals expressed in Castiglione's Courtier guided the European elite. Hainsworth's robust new English edition will help students understand how and why." -- Margaret L. King, Professor of History Emerita, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY

Petrarch fashioned so many different versions of himself for posterity that it is an exacting task to establish where one might start to explore. . . . Hainsworth's study meets this problem through examples of what Petrarch wrote, and does so decisively and succinctly. . . . [A] careful and unpretentious book, penetrating in its organization and treatment of its subject, gentle in its guidance of the reader, nimble and dexterous in its scholarly infrastructure-and no less profound for those qualities of lightness. The translations themselves are a delight, and are clearly the result of profound meditation and extensive experiment. . . . The Introduction and the notes to each work form a clear plexus of support for the reader, with a host of deft cross-references. --Richard Mackenny, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Peter Hainsworth's sparkling, eminently readable new English translation of The Book of the Courtier, Baldesar Castiglione's (14781529) literary and philosophical masterpiece, captures all the nuance, stylistic flair, and humor of this foundational work of Renaissance humanism. "Peter Hainsworth's fresh translation of The Book of the Courtier will gladden those who have known this quintessentially important work through the available translations that are, after several decades, somewhat dated. Hainsworth's version is more accessible to contemporary readers because, first, it is more easily read, and second, because it deftly places Castiglione's classic discussion of manners, gender roles, language, and love in historical context. Instructors especially will welcome the Introduction's establishment of the biographical, political, and cultural framework of Castiglione's dialogue; the explanatory notes that amply supply the information students will need to appreciate the conversation; and the guidance provided by an analytically enriched table of contents that groups the chapters meaningfully while highlighting the Courtier's principal themes. For 150 years, the ideals expressed in Castiglione's Courtier guided the European elite. Hainsworth's robust new English edition will help students understand how and why." -- Margaret L. King, Professor of History Emerita, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY

In this Very Short Introduction, Peter Hainsworth and David Robey consider Italian literature from the Middle Ages to the present day, looking at themes and issues which have recurred throughout its history and continue to be of importance today. Examining themes such as regional identities, political disunity, and the role of the national language, they also cover a wide range of authors and works, including Dante, Petrarch, Manzoni, Montale, and Calvino. They explore some of the distinctive traditions of the literature, such as its liking for theorizing its own position, its concern with politics, and its secular orientation in spite of the Catholic beliefs and practices of the Italian people. Concluding by looking at the ways in which Italian literature has changed over the last thirty years, they examine the influence of women's writing in Italian, and acknowledge the belated recognition of its importance. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Petrarch fashioned so many different versions of himself for posterity that it is an exacting task to establish where one might start to explore. . . . Hainsworth's study meets this problem through examples of what Petrarch wrote, and does so decisively and succinctly. . . . [A] careful and unpretentious book, penetrating in its organization and treatment of its subject, gentle in its guidance of the reader, nimble and dexterous in its scholarly infrastructure-and no less profound for those qualities of lightness. The translations themselves are a delight, and are clearly the result of profound meditation and extensive experiment. . . . The Introduction and the notes to each work form a clear plexus of support for the reader, with a host of deft cross-references. --Richard Mackenny, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Petrarch was Italy's second most famous writer (after Dante), and indeed from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries he was much better known and more influential in English literature than Dante. His Italian love lyrics constituted the major influence on European love poetry for at least two centuries from 1400 to 1600, and in Britain he was imitated by Chaucer, the Elizabethans, and other lyric poets up until the end of the eighteenth century. With Romanticism Dante ousted Petrarch from his pre-eminent position, but in our post-Romantic age, attention has now started to swing back to Petrarch.
This volume is the most comprehensive and up to date survey of Petrarch's literary legacy in Britain. Starting with his own views of those whom he called the "barbari Britanni," the volume then explores a number of key topics: Petrarch's analysis of the self; his dialogue with other classical and Italian authors; Petrarchism and anti-Petrarchism in Renaissance Italy; Petrarchism in England and Scotland; and Petrarch's modern legacy in both Italy and Britain. Many important texts and poets are considered, including Giordano Bruno, Leopardi, Foscolo, Ascham, Sidney, Spenser, and Walter Savage Landor.
The twenty chapters collected here are written by major scholars of Petrarch in the UK and Italy and will be essential reading for scholars and students of both Italian and British literature, as well as comparative literature.

Bawdy and moving, hilarious and reflective - these stories offer the very best of Boccaccio's Decameron in a brilliant, playful new translation. This hugely enjoyable volume collects the best stories of Boccaccio's masterwork in a fresh, accessible new translation by Peter Hainsworth. It includes such celebrated, thought-provoking tales as 'Isabella and the Pot of Basil' (famously adapted by Keats) and 'Patient Griselda' alongside many boisterous and daring stories featuring faithless wives, philandering priests and curious nuns.

In this Very Short Introduction, Peter Hainsworth and David Robey take a different approach to Dante, by examining the main themes and issues that run through all of his work, ranging from autobiography, to understanding God and the order of the universe. In doing so, they highlight what has made Dante a vital point of reference for modern writers and readers, both inside and outside Italy. They emphasize the distinctive and dynamic interplay in Dante's writing between argument, ideas, and analysis on the one hand, and poetic imagination on the other. Dante was highly concerned with the political and intellectual issues of his time, demonstrated most powerfully in his notorious work, The Divine Comedy. Tracing the tension between the medieval and modern aspects, Hainsworth and Robey provide a clear insight into the meaning of this masterpiece of world literature. They highlight key figures and episodes in the poem, bringing out the originality and power of Dante's writing to help readers understand the problems that Dante wanted his audience to confront but often left up to the reader to resolve. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.