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FRANCESCO PETRARCA, 1304-1374
Canzoniere
On paper
Northeastern Italy, first quarter of the 15th century
Marston MS 99, ff. 1v - 2r
This copy of the Canzoniere begins with a stylized
portrait of Petrarch at his writing table. The manuscript
is written in minuscola cancelleresca, a script
similar to one that Petrarch adopted in early rough drafts
of his poetry, some of which survive in the Vatican Library’s
Codex Vaticanus latinus 3196. The minuscola cancelleresca
was in wide use during the 14th century, and it has been
suggested therefore that this manuscript may have been
copied in the 1390s. Whether written in the 14th or early-15th
century, Marston MS 99 is one of the earliest copies of
the Canzoniere. It appears together with Petrarch's
Triumphi, and a collection of Italian poetry
by various authors. Petrarch remains the dominate figure
in the manuscript, just as he was in the literary circles
of both the 14th and 15th centuries.
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