6The full compendium of Petrarch's poetic verses are published in this high quality edition without abridgement.

Notable for being the pivotal figure whose work commenced the Italian Renaissance, Francesco Petrarca's significance is gargantuan. His personal rediscovery of authentic correspondences written by the Roman statesman and legal scholar Cicero was the spark that set the enthusiasm for the arts and sciences alight throughout Italy and later much of Europe in a trend which would span centuries.

Petrarch's personal creative proclivities were for poetry, a form in which he innovated and excelled. Serving as a model for later Italian poets such as Dante and Giovanni Boccaccio, Petrarch's poems are the vivid forebear of the wellspring of lyrical creativity which underpinned the Renaissance era. Together they establish the veneration of love as an important and enduring emotion in humanity - for Petrarch, his life's love and foremost poetic subject was Laura de Noves, a woman who for decades he considered a purely platonic muse.

With time, Petrarch would gain endorsement for his humanist ideals as well as his innovative poetic lyricism. Living to see the early consequences of his artistic efforts, Petrarch coined the term 'Dark Ages' for the previous centuries in which creativity and the arts had comparatively languished.

The translations to English present in this edition are faithful to the form pioneered by their author during the 14th century. A full table of contents for every poem is present for ease of reference, while a lengthy biographical introduction imbues the reader with a researched overview of the great poet's life.