Ad adolescentes de legendis libris gentilium (Latin translation of Basil of Caesarea, Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature)
Title
Ad adolescentes de legendis libris gentilium (Latin translation of Basil of Caesarea, Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature)
Description
Around 1405, Leonardo Bruni (ca. 1370–1444) translated Basil of Caesarea’s thousand-year-old Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature into Latin. Saint Basil’s careful call for the appreciation of pagan Greek literature by a youthful Christian audience would become increasingly popular in the 1440s as the Council of Ferrara-Florence brought Greek intellectuals to Italy in droves. Saint Basil’s pithy, ten-chapter tract begins with a justification for the offering of advice for adolescents, originally intended for members of his family. The author then gradually introduces the reader to the reasons why the reading of profane literature might be profitable for the soul. The manuscript can be dated precisely to 19 November 1442; a colophon names the scribe as a certain “Franciscus Tuisanus.” From an early date, the book was owned by members of the Martinotius (Martinozzi) family of Fano, on the Adriatic coast.
Creator
Author: Leonardo Bruni; Scribe: Franciscus Tuisanus
Date
19 November 1442
Format
Manuscript on paper, 30 fols.
Identifier
The Free Library of Philadelphia, Lewis E 237
Coverage
Italy
Tags
Citation
Author: Leonardo Bruni; Scribe: Franciscus Tuisanus, “Ad adolescentes de legendis libris gentilium (Latin translation of Basil of Caesarea, Address to Young Men on the Right Use of Greek Literature),” Making the Renaissance Manuscript, accessed May 7, 2024, http://makingrenmanuscripts.exhibits.library.upenn.edu/items/show/55.
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