Petrarch's Guide to the Holy Land: 'Itinerary to the Sepulcher of Our Lord Jesus Christ' by Theodore J. Cachey, Jr. (review)

Abstract

798 Reviews to Piero's portrait; the Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits should be given credit fortheir artistic patrimony, and the few lines given to Cosimo (under Medici) ignore that artistic legacy that still attracts visitors to Florence. It would be helpful, also, if more entries had bibliographies directing readers to editions where a rare text can be found, and to recent (excellent) editions?e.g. Sinicropi'sof Sercambi's Novelle; some existing bibliographies need revising: although the cut-offdate is given as 2000?and often this is so (Grafton on Alberti makes it)?in some cases they lag behind: Bausi and Martelli could replace others on Poliziano, and Fogazzaro (born 1842, not 1841) has had better criticism since 1928. The briefgiven (Reader's Guide, p. xxx) that short entries on individual works give only a bare indication of contents, is fortunately ignored by some contributors, and should be reconsidered; the few lines on II sentierodei nidi di ragno ignore the plot but illuminate the reader, the inanity of the plot of Mandragola (appropriately defined, but under Machiavelli, as a 'black comedy'), or of the Novella del grasso legnaiuolo would make anyone marvel that they are famous works. The only misprint of substance I noted was the omission of the (essential) ques? tion mark from 'Leonardo Bruni: Florentine Traitor?' (p. 87), and the most irritating feature was the total disregard for basic rules of Italian syllabification; it is churlish to draw attention to it but it is most uneducative to promote wrong pronunciation: sig-nori (p. 31), Lollob-rigida (p. 241), prat-ica (p. 391), decadent-ismo (p. 630), etc. That said, this is a very fine volume that scholars will find indispensable, and its edi? tors and contributors are to be warmly congratulated and thanked for such a service to Italian literature. Trinity College, Dublin Corinna Salvadori Lonergan Petrarch }sGuide totheHoly Land: Ttinerary to theSepulcher ofOur Lord Jesus Christ'. Ed. and trans. by Theodore J.Cachey,Jr. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. 2002. x + 235pp. $37-5?- ISBN 0-268-03873-2. This elegant edition consists of a very informative and engaging introduction by Theodore Cachey on the status of travel literature within the ltalian literary canon, on Petrarch's travels and his subsequent accounts, on the features of this Itinerarium, on its content, its textual problems, and its early dissemination and reception. There follows a facsimile edition of the Cremona manuscript (BB. 1.2.5) with a transcription and the firstever English translation, in a pleasingly flowing, clear style. The work is completed by a bibliography covering relevant studies on the history of travel as well as references to medieval pilgrimages, and an index. Cachey reminds us of the circumstances of the compilation of this Itinerarium. Petrarch was invited by his friend Giovanni Mandelli, who was in the service of the Visconti, to accompany him on a pilgrimage he was planning to the Holy Land in 1358. Petrarch declined: he could not face the long sea voyage, but he would ac? company his friend in spirit, with his guide specially written for the occasion. The fact that Petrarch described places he had never visited was one of the reasons this Itinerarium was slow in finding itself a niche within the tradition of travel literature. Cachey defends the work on two counts. He points out, firstly, that in fact it is more a description of Italy than of the Holy Land, and secondly, that it is time to break down the distinction between real and virtual travel. One of the firstto treat Petrarch's description of places visited and his Itinerarium, partly based on personal knowledge, partly on literary sources, is Tiraboschi in the eighteenth century; he grants special status to these travel writings, almost making Petrarch, Cachey suggests, a prototype ofthe Grand Tourist. But until recently there have been no scholarly editions of the Itinerarium. Billanovichhad announced in the MLRy 99.3, 2004 799 1950s that a critical edition was imminent, but it was only in 1979 that Altamura produced his edition (Naples: Societa Editrice Napoletana), improving on the defective one by Lumbroso (Rome: Accademia dei Lincei, 1888), followed by those of Lo Monaco (Bergamo: Lubrina...