From Manuscript to Print: the Evolution of the Medieval Book

 

Petrarch
horizontal rule
The scholastic method, with its emphasis on Aristotelian philosophy, became so dominant and entrenched in the university system that it excited a reaction. This reaction was spearheaded in the 14th century by Francesco Petrarch, the Florentine humanist known as the Father of the Italian Renaissance. Petrarch was instrumental not only in challenging the dominance of scholasticism, but also in furthering the prestige of vernacular literature, as this deluxe manuscript of his Tuscan poetry demonstrates.

Bequeathed in 1904 to Cornell University Library by Willard Fiske.

horizontal rule
Francesco Petrarch. Trionfi. Italy (Florence), third quarter of the fifteenth century.
horizontal rule

view image

continue tour

Introduction
the Sacred Word
Churchbooks
Private Prayer
Letterforms
Leather and Chains
Medieval Music
Schoolbooks
How the Classics Survived
Manuscripts in the Age of Print
Evolution of the Book
Appetite for Destruction
Manuscript Facsimiles
Cornell's Medieval Books
credits
home
Cornell University Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Cornell University Library

Copyright © 2002 Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853
Phone Number: (607) 255-3530. Fax Number: (607) 255-9524

For reference questions, send mail to: rareref@cornell.edu
If you have questions or comments about the site, send mail to: webmaster.