Guido Martellotti's "most probable hypothesis" about this manuscript—apparently the sole surviving exemplar of the Petrarchan text it contains—is that it is "a rough sketch written by Petrarch in a moment of enthusiasm for his theme, and left unfinished among his papers." Martellotti's study, published in 1974 for the 600th anniversary of Petrarch's death, relates the sketch to the life of Scipio in Petrarch's De viris illustribus.
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Title of collection item
"Collatio inter Scipionem, Alexandrum, Annibalem et Pyrhum," in a Renaissance miscellany.
Leaf/page/opening info
14r
Date info
Manuscript on paper, Italy, 1459-1484.
Version/translation/format/more date info
Fol. 14 recto, Incipit of Petrarch's "short draft" of the life of Scipio Africanus.
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Credit
The Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts
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single page
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