FRANCESCO PETRARCA, 1304-1374
Index of the Canzoniere and Triumphi
On paper
Italy (possibly Venice), 16th century
MS 881, Vol. I - ff. 1v - 2r; Vol. II - cover

The index of rhymes in Petrarch’s Italian verses, as they appear in the Canzoniere and Triumphi, attests to the interest in finding easy reference and accessibility to this poetry. The index system is based on word endings for the vowels (a e i o u) in combination with the consonants b to z. Unfortunately, the reference numbers of the index do not correspond to the numbers of the poems of the Canzoniere and Triumphi. For example, all the words in Petrarch’s first sonnet (“Voi ch’ascoltate”) are numbered “3”, and all the rhymes in the Triumphi have the same number 287. The references may be instead to folios, page numbers or order numbers in an as yet unidentified manuscript or printed edition.

The binding (seen here on Vol. II) carries the Fugger shield, indicating that the two-volume set was owned by the Fugger family, an eminent Augsburg banking dynasty.