In recent decades the development of digital technology has made available to, and has brought to the attention of non-specialists as well, a quantity of texts, information and images relative to our literary heritage that otherwise would have been the exclusive property of “specialists”. At the same time, however, such technology cannot be perfectly controlled or trustworthy, a fact that can condition the methodological procedures of textual and literary criticism. In order to deal with this problem, the scientific community has tried to take the necessary precautions, beginning by directly observing, controlling and managing the potential of, and the materials offered by, Internet.

Thus many portals have been dedicated to ancient and modern literary figures, most of which are university projects sustained by public funding (for example. “Galassia Ariosto”, ERC 2017, and “Oltre Plinio”, PRIN 2012). Among this wealth of information, however, is notable the absence of a scientifically based website dealing exclusively with the life and works of Francesco Petrarch.

The aim of the present project is to create the first monographic portal dedicated exclusively to the father of Humanism, co-ordinated by scholars with proven research experience in this particular field, displaying scientifically controlled texts, images and articles in specific interconnected sections and subsections that themselves open the way to further research. The research activity of the members of the project, that has been dealing on editorial issues of medieval and humanistic texts, refers to a model that with Giovanni Orlandi (Perché non possiamo non dirci lachmanniani, in Id., Scritti di filologia mediolatina, Florence 2008) continues to make reasonable use of Lachmannism, placing the author and the necessity of a complete exploration and evaluation of the tradition at the centre, with results that have decisively affected the development of research: discovery of new manuscripts, innovative forms of attention to the working techniques of the humanist, that have opened up new methodological and interpretative perspectives, and realisation of an ecdotic model complete with translation and exegetical aids.

The decision to put this experience, after several decades of research, to the advantage of the web users stems from the conviction, shared by all the project’s participants, that humanistic culture cannot now survive without divulgation and that this divulgation must be promoted first and foremost by those who have the necessary competence. The bilingual (Italian and English) website will take the form of a freely accessible and interactive platform, with digital resources deriving from ecdotic, philological, codicological-palaeographical and literary-critical research. Step by step, the Portal will offer access to:

1. the entire production of P., both in Italian and in Latin including the most relevant annotations to the manuscripts of his library; all the texts will be in critically revised edition and in a searchable format;
2. the description of the Petrarchan library, including copies of books he owned, with complete codicological-palaeographical and content descriptions, essential bibliography and complete or partial reproductions of each manuscript;
3. a chronology of the life and works of P., accompanied by bibliography;
4. a census of the ancient biographies of P. (14th-16th centuries), with a list of their manuscript and printed witnesses, as well as critically grounded editions of texts;
5. material on the early reception of P: manuscripts of his works, iconography, detailed descriptions of 14th century letter-collections directly related to him, some of which as yet unpublished;
6. critical and exegetic research lines concerning the historiographic works of P., the Triumphi and the interest in Greek culture of P. and Boccaccio, but also other results of the activity of the members involved in the project with open access publication; 
7. catalogue and digitalisation of the papers of Giuseppe Fracassetti (1802-1883), in Fermo, that include his editions and translations of Petrarch’s Latin works, and history of the ‘Commissione per l’Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Francesco Petrarca’, with a link to the on-line catalogue of the material in the Archives of the Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana;
8. an informative section on the events (conferences, seminars, workshops, book presentations) and on new publications relative to P., that can be notified directly by users through a mailing list;
9. links to on-line resources that already exist related to the subject matter of the project and that will potentially increase alongside increased availability on the web.

Working group:

1. Carla Maria Monti - Faculty of Arts and Philosophy 
2. Simona Gavinelli - Faculty of Arts and Philosophy

Partner:

1. Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Coordinator);
2. Università degli Studi di Messina;
3. Università degli Studi “G. d’Annunzio” Chieti-Pescara;
4. Università degli Studi di Bologna.