Although Francesco Petrarca (1304-74) is best known today for cementing the sonnet's place in literary history, he was also a philosopher, historian, orator, and one of the foremost classical scholars of his age. "Petrarch: A Critical Guide to the Complete Works" is the only comprehensive, single-volume source to which anyone - scholar, student, or general reader - can turn for information on each of Petrarch's works, its place in the poet's oeuvre, and a critical exposition of its defining features. A sophisticated but accessible handbook that illuminates Petrarch's love of classical culture, his devout Christianity, his public celebrity, and his struggle for inner peace, this encyclopedic volume covers both Petrarch's Italian and Latin writings and the various genres in which he excelled: poem, tract, dialogue, oration, and letter. A biographical introduction and chronology anchor the book, making Petrarch an invaluable resource for specialists in Italian, comparative literature, history, classics, religious studies, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance.

About the Author
Victoria Kirkham is professor emerita of Romance languages at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the author of three books, most recently Fabulous Vernacular: Boccaccio's "Filocolo" and the Art of Medieval Fiction. Armando Maggi is professor of Romance languages and a member of the Committee on the History of Culture at the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including Satan's Rhetoric and In the Company of Demons, both published by the University of Chicago Press.

Reviews
"This book's depth of detail, breadth of coverage, and consistently high level of critical analysis make it unparalleled in Anglophone Petrarch scholarship and indispensable to anyone seriously interested in this perennially fascinating poet and thinker. A must for collections in Italian studies, medieval and Renaissance culture, and comparative literature." (Choice)"



Book Information
ISBN 9780226437422
Author Victoria Kirkham
Format Paperback
Page Count 568
Imprint University of Chicago Press
Publisher The University of Chicago Press
Weight(grams) 851g
Dimensions(mm) 23mm * 16mm * 3mm