Italian Bookshelf (download as PDF) - Ibiblio

452 “Italian Bookshelf.” Annali d’italianistica 25 (2007)
His book is organized as an introduction, with substantial sections on Petrarch as
pilgrim and cosmographer, and on the social, political and scholarly context of the
itinerary. Discussion of the manuscript tradition leads to an edition of the text, numbering
some 670 lines in this volume, and an English translation. Then follows an almost lineby-line
commentary that occupies 170 pages. End matter comprises a gazetteer, a
valuable appendix on Petrarch’s use of the cursus, a bibliography, and indices of biblical,
place, and personal names, completed by maps under the front and back covers.
Petrarch was an avid traveler, everywhere enthused by the history of the places he
visited and by their names, ancient and modern, particularly as documented in the authors
of classical antiquity, a body of learned literature that he was instrumental in recovering
and, indeed, adding to his personal library. Shey demonstrates that geography in
Petrarch’s age was not a separate science and thus the work is infused with a wide variety
of knowledge, which the editor very successfully disentangles and elucidates. In
particular, it is useful to have a sure guide to early cartography, to Humanism’s evolving
conception of geographical space, and to portolan charts, the annotated sketches of
coastlines with the names of ports and landmarks which constitute a fascinating interface
between topography and letters. Petrarch’s interest in, and problems with,
astronomy/astrology are usefully reviewed.
Petrarch’s work was nominally commissioned by his aristocratic friend Giovanni
Mandelli, a diplomat active in the interests of the Visconti dynasty. He charged Petrarch
with producing a guide that would improve him as a Christian, an educated man, and a
professional soldier by directing his attention to significant places and historical events
(41). Thus, one criterion for inclusion in the itinerary was exemplarity, in addition to the
then current political and economic importance of a site. These complementary objectives
create a dynamic that is sustained throughout the text, the past and present, the ideal and
real.
Petrarch claimed susceptibility to seasickness as a reason for not accompanying his
friend, but Shey debunks this claim as more of a learned conceit than an accurate
statement on the sea-legs of a much traveled man. Here, it is worth noting how little
attention is paid to the sea, ships, and the actual sea journey. No “romance of the sea” is
to be found here, in what is nonetheless an ideal and idealized voyage. The focus is
resolutely on the shoreline, save perhaps for a moment at the entry to the Strait of
Messina when Petrarch remarks that with a slight turn of the head one can see the cities
of Reggio Calabria and Messina at almost the same time.
Mandelli is thought to have begun his journey in early April 1358. The stages of the
journey between Genoa and Naples are the most fully documented, reflecting Petrarch’s
own travels and Mandelli’s areas of political concern. This disregard for much of the
Mezzogiorno makes for some imbalance in the work, one more than matched by the
relatively short shrift given the purported objectives of the trip, the holy sites in Syria and
Egypt. Here the signification was presumed already well known from biblical history.
Petrarch borrows freely from his other works, in particular Africa, just as he mines
classical authors for pertinent information. We sense his enthusiasm, if only for an
imaginary journey. Comparisons between the glories of the past and the inadequacies of
the Italian present are everywhere subjacent to the points on the itinerary. Lucan, more
than Virgil, is shown as source and inspiration. Other travel literature of the time and the
difficult logistics of pilgrimage receive expert treatment by the editor (78-98). As an