Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale
Florence
Italy
Costo answers the following questions in his lecture: 1) what was Petrarch’s purpose in writing love poems at an advanced age? 2) is it legitimate to define the Triumphi as an epic poem? As regards the first question, Costo argues that Petrarch’s love poems have beatitude as their ultimate aim. On the second question, Costo supports defining the Triumphi as an epic poem by considering Petrarch’s choices in terms of metre (terza rima), lofty subjects, and elevated style. The lecture was printed in Il Petrarca nuovamente ridotto alla uera lettione (Venice: Barezzi, 1592).
The second lecture by an anonymous author identifies the subject of the sonnet as the dichotomy presented by Laura’s presence-absence. The author is interested in the bodily expressions of feelings, focusing on tears, breaths (‘sospiri’), laughter (‘riso’), and so on.
Fols. 184 and 247 have been counted twice; fol. 156 is missing.