Publishing History > The I Tatti Renaissance Library (Harvard University Press)
The I Tatti Renaissance Library
Publisher: Harvard University Press.
Place: Cambridge, MA, United States. Date: 2001- .
Platonic Theology (Volume 5: Books XV-XVI)
by Marsilio Ficino
Edited by James Hankins with William Bowen
Translated by Michael J. B. Allen
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005 (The I Tatti Renaissance Library).
Hardback.
Synopsis: The Platonic Theology is a visionary work and the philosophical masterpiece of Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), the Florentine scholar-philosopher-magus who was largely responsible for the Renaissance revival of Plato. A student of the Neoplatonic schools of Plotinus and Proclus, he was committed to reconciling Platonism with Christianity, in the hope that such a reconciliation would initiate a spiritual revival and return of the golden age. His Platonic evangelizing was eminently successful and widely influential, and his Platonic Theology, translated into English for the first time in this edition, is one of the keys to understanding the art, thought, culture, and spirituality of the Renaissance.
THE I TATTI RENAISSANCE LIBRARY (HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY)
Series Note: The I Tatti Renaissance Library, published by Harvard University Press, is a major bilingual series devoted to the Latin literature of the Italian Renaissance. Since its launch in 2001, its purpose has been to make the major literary, historical, philosophical, and scientific works of the Italian Renaissance written in Latin available to a broad readership. Each volume gives a reliable Latin text on facing pages with an English translation, together with introduction, textual notes, bibliography, and index. The series is explicitly modelled on the Loeb Classical Library, but extends the Loeb idea into the Renaissance Neo-Latin world.
The idea was initially conceived by Walter Kaiser, a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University and in the years 1988–2002 the director of the Villa I Tatti: The Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, located in Florence, Italy, and James Hankins, a professor of history at Harvard.
Hankins was the founding general editor of the series. He retired from that post in 2025, after the publication of the hundredth volume. The current general editor is Shane Butler. I Tatti announced in 2025 that Leah Whittington would join Butler as co-general editor in the 2027–2028 academic year.
The series was conceived as a remedy for the relative invisibility of Renaissance Latin literature. In a 2001 Harvard Gazette article, Hankins described this literature as a “sunken continent” of the mind: central to Western civilization but inaccessible to most readers because so much of it remained untranslated. Walter Kaiser, then director of Villa I Tatti, emphasized its teaching purpose: professors could assign these texts, thereby changing the study of Renaissance culture.
The main subject areas treated by The I Tatti Renaissance Library can be grouped as follows. Harvard describes the series broadly as covering the major literary, historical, philosophical, and scientific works of the Italian Renaissance written in Latin.
1. Philosophy, theology, and metaphysics
This is one of the strongest areas of the series. It includes Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, his Commentaries on Plato, his Commentary on Plotinus, and his writings on Dionysius the Areopagite, as well as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s 900 Conclusions. These volumes represent Renaissance Platonism, Christian Neoplatonism, scholastic debate, and humanist theology.
2. History, political history, and biography
A large part of the series is historical. Examples include Leonardo Bruni’s History of the Florentine People, Pietro Bembo’s History of Venice, Flavio Biondo’s Italy Illuminated and Rome in Triumph, Pope Pius II’s Commentaries, Bartolomeo Platina’s Lives of the Popes, Pier Candido Decembrio’s Lives of the Milanese Tyrants, Paolo Giovio’s biographical works, and Boccaccio’s Famous Women.
3. Political thought, civic humanism, and moral philosophy
Several titles concern government, law, political conduct, tyranny, civic virtue, and public ethics. Examples include Lorenzo Valla’s On the Donation of Constantine, Coluccio Salutati’s Political Writings, Aurelio Lippo Brandolini’s Republics and Kingdoms Compared, Giannozzo Manetti’s On Human Worth and Excellence, and On Leaders and Tyrants.
4. Poetry and literary composition
The series includes a substantial body of Neo-Latin poetry: Angelo Poliziano’s Silvae and Greek and Latin Poetry, Jacopo Sannazaro’s Latin Poetry, Marco Girolamo Vida’s Christiad, Francesco Filelfo’s Odes, Michele Marullo’s Poems, Ludovico Ariosto’s Latin Poetry, Ugolino Verino’s Fiammetta and Paradise, and Andrea Navagero and Marcantonio Flaminio’s Latin Pastoral Poetry.
5. Rhetoric, philology, education, and classical scholarship
Humanist learning is central to the series. Important examples include Humanist Educational Treatises, Lorenzo Valla’s Dialectical Disputations, Poliziano’s Miscellanies, Aldus Manutius’s The Greek Classics and Humanism and the Latin Classics, and the anthology Ciceronian Controversies. These works show Renaissance humanists as editors, teachers, translators, grammarians, and critics.
6. Letters, dialogues, essays, and humanist prose
The series also presents humanist sociability and intellectual exchange through letters, dialogues, and essays. Examples include Lorenzo Valla’s Correspondence, Angelo Poliziano’s Letters, Bartolomeo Fonzio’s Letters to Friends, Giovanni Pontano’s Dialogues, Bartolomeo Scala’s Essays and Dialogues, Leon Battista Alberti’s Dinner Pieces, and Petrarch’s Selected Letters.
7. Religion, church reform, and devotional controversy
This area includes Girolamo Savonarola’s Apologetic Writings, Nicholas of Cusa’s Writings on Church and Reform, Salutati’s On the World and Religious Life, Manetti’s Against the Jews and the Gentiles, and several Ficino theological works.
Further reading:
- Anthony Grafton, "Rediscovering a Lost Continent" (The New York Review, 5 Oct 2006).
- Harvard University Press series list: I Tatti Renaissance Library
Year of publication / Author(s) / Title / Editor, translator, note
2001
Marsilio Ficino
Platonic Theology, Volume 1: Books I–IV
Ed. James Hankins; trans. Michael J. B. Allen
Leonardo Bruni
History of the Florentine People, Volume 1: Books I–IV
Ed. and trans. James Hankins
Giovanni Boccaccio
Famous Women
Ed. and trans. Virginia Brown
2002
Polydore Vergil
On Discovery
Ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver
Various: Vergerio, Bruni, Pius II, Battista Guarino
Humanist Educational Treatises
Ed. and trans. Craig W. Kallendorf
Marsilio Ficino
Platonic Theology, Volume 2: Books V–VIII
Ed. Michael J. B. Allen and James Hankins
2003
Francesco Petrarca / Petrarch
Invectives
Ed. and trans. David Marsh
Cyriac of Ancona
Later Travels
Ed. and trans. Edward W. Bodnar and Clive Foss
Leon Battista Alberti
Momus
Ed. Virginia Brown; ed. and trans. Sarah Knight
Giannozzo Manetti
Biographical Writings
Ed. and trans. Stefano U. Baldassarri and Rolf Bagemihl
Marsilio Ficino
Platonic Theology, Volume 3: Books IX–XI
Ed. Michael J. B. Allen and James Hankins
2004
Pope Pius II
Commentaries, Volume 1: Books I–II
Ed. Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta
Maffeo Vegio
Short Epics
Ed. and trans. James Hankins and Michael C. J. Putnam
Angelo Poliziano
Silvae
Ed. and trans. Charles Fantazzi
Leonardo Bruni
History of the Florentine People, Volume 2: Books V–VIII
Ed. and trans. James Hankins
Marsilio Ficino
Platonic Theology, Volume 4: Books XII–XIV
Ed. Michael J. B. Allen and James Hankins
2005
Flavio Biondo
Italy Illuminated, Volume 1: Books I–IV
Ed. and trans. Jeffrey A. White
Pietro Bembo
Lyric Poetry. Etna
Ed. and trans. Mary P. Chatfield; trans. Betty Radice
Various
Humanist Comedies
Ed. and trans. Gary R. Grund
Marsilio Ficino
Platonic Theology, Volume 5: Books XV–XVI
Ed. Michael J. B. Allen and James Hankins
2006
Giovanni Gioviano Pontano
Baiae
Ed. and trans. Dennis G. Rodney
Angelo Poliziano
Letters, Volume 1: Books I–IV
Ed. and trans. Shane Butler
Marsilio Ficino
Platonic Theology, Volume 6: Books XVII–XVIII
Ed. Michael J. B. Allen and James Hankins
2007
Lorenzo Valla
On the Donation of Constantine
Ed. and trans. G. W. Bowersock
Various Renaissance humanists
Ciceronian Controversies
Ed. JoAnn DellaNeva; trans. Brian Duvick
Teofilo Folengo
Baldo, Volume 1: Books I–XII
Ed. and trans. Ann E. Mullaney
Pietro Bembo
History of Venice, Volume 1: Books I–IV
Ed. and trans. Robert W. Ulery Jr.
Pope Pius II
Commentaries, Volume 2: Books III–IV
Ed. Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta
29.
History of the Florentine People, Volume 3: Books IX–XII. Memoirs
Ed./trans. James Hankins; trans. James Hankins and D. J. W. Bradley
2008
Cristoforo Landino
Poems
Ed. and trans. Mary P. Chatfield
Marsilio Ficino
Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: Phaedrus and Ion
Ed. and trans. Michael J. B. Allen
Bartolomeo Scala
Essays and Dialogues
Ed. and trans. Renée Neu Watkins
Bartolomeo Platina
Lives of the Popes, Volume 1: Antiquity
Ed. and trans. Anthony F. d’Elia
Nicholas of Cusa
Writings on Church and Reform
Ed. and trans. Thomas M. Izbicki
Pietro Bembo
History of Venice, Volume 2: Books V–VIII
Ed. and trans. Robert W. Ulery Jr.
Teofilo Folengo
Baldo, Volume 2: Books XIII–XXV
Ed. and trans. Ann E. Mullaney
2009
Jacopo Sannazaro
Latin Poetry
Ed. and trans. Michael C. J. Putnam
Marco Girolamo Vida
Christiad
Ed. and trans. James Gardner
Aurelio Lippo Brandolini
Republics and Kingdoms Compared
Ed. and trans. James Hankins
Francesco Filelfo
Odes
Ed. and trans. Diana Maury Robin
Pietro Bembo
History of Venice, Volume 3: Books IX–XII
Ed. and trans. Robert W. Ulery Jr.
2010
Federico Borromeo
Sacred Painting. Museum
Ed. and trans. Kenneth S. Rothwell Jr.
Florentius de Faxolis
Book on Music
Ed. and trans. Bonnie J. Blackburn and Leofranc Holford-Strevens
Antonio Beccadelli
The Hermaphrodite
Ed. and trans. Holt N. Parker
2011
Various
Humanist Tragedies
Ed. and trans. Gary R. Grund
Giovanni Boccaccio
Genealogy of the Pagan Gods, Volume 1: Books I–V
Ed. and trans. Jon Solomon
Lilio Gregorio Giraldi
Modern Poets
Ed. and trans. John N. Grant
Bartolomeo Fonzio
Letters to Friends
Ed. Alessandro Daneloni; trans. Martin Davies
2012
Marsilio Ficino
Commentaries on Plato, Volume 2: Parmenides, Part II
Ed. and trans. Maude Vanhaelen
Marsilio Ficino
Commentaries on Plato, Volume 2: Parmenides, Part I
Ed. and trans. Maude Vanhaelen
Michele Marullo Tarcaniota
Poems
Trans. Charles Fantazzi
Giovanni Gioviano Pontano
Dialogues, Volume 1: Charon and Antonius
Ed. and trans. Julia Haig Gaisser
Lorenzo Valla
Dialectical Disputations, Volume 2: Books II–III
Ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver and Lodi Nauta
Lorenzo Valla
Dialectical Disputations, Volume 1: Book I
Ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver and Lodi Nauta
2013
Girolamo Fracastoro
Latin Poetry
Trans. James Gardner
Paolo Giovio
Notable Men and Women of Our Time
Ed. and trans. Kenneth Gouwens
Francesco Filelfo
On Exile
Ed. Jeroen De Keyser; trans. W. Scott Blanchard
58.
Jacopo Zabarella
On Methods, Volume 1: Books I–II
Ed. and trans. John P. McCaskey
2014
Coluccio Salutati
On the World and Religious Life
Trans. Tina Marshall
Giovanni Gioviano Pontano
On Married Love. Eridanus
Ed. and trans. Luke Roman
Various
The Battle of Lepanto
Ed. and trans. Andrew Lemons, Sarah Spence, and Elizabeth R. Wright
Lorenzo Valla
Correspondence
Ed. and trans. Brendan Cook
63.
Jacopo Zabarella
On Methods, Volume 2: Books III–IV. On Regressus
Ed. and trans. John P. McCaskey
Coluccio Salutati
Political Writings
Ed. Stefano U. Baldassarri; trans. Rolf Bagemihl
2015
Cyriac of Ancona
Life and Early Travels
Ed. and trans. Charles Mitchell, Edward W. Bodnar, and Clive Foss
Marsilio Ficino
On Dionysius the Areopagite, Volume 2: The Divine Names, Part II
Ed. and trans. Michael J. B. Allen
Marsilio Ficino
On Dionysius the Areopagite, Volume 1: Mystical Theology and The Divine Names, Part I
Ed. and trans. Michael J. B. Allen
Girolamo Savonarola
Apologetic Writings
Ed. and trans. M. Michèle Mulchahey
2016
Flavio Biondo
Italy Illuminated, Volume 2: Books V–VIII
Continuation of Biondo’s Italia illustrata
Giovanni Marrasio
Angelinetum and Other Poems
Trans. Mary P. Chatfield
Ugolino Verino
Fiammetta. Paradise.
Ed. and trans. Allan M. Wilson
Aldus Manutius
The Greek Classics
Ed. and trans. N. G. Wilson
Giannozzo Manetti
A Translator’s Defense
Ed. Myron McShane; trans. Mark Young
Francesco Petrarca / Petrarch
My Secret Book
Ed. and trans. Nicholas Mann
Flavio Biondo
Rome in Triumph, Volume 1: Books I–II
Ed. Maria Agata Pincelli; trans. Frances Muecke
2017
Aldus Manutius
Humanism and the Latin Classics
Ed. and trans. John N. Grant
Francesco Petrarca / Petrarch
Selected Letters, Volume 2
Trans. Elaine Fantham
Francesco Petrarca / Petrarch
Selected Letters, Volume 1
Trans. Elaine Fantham
Giovanni Boccaccio
Genealogy of the Pagan Gods, Volume 2: Books VI–X
Ed. and trans. Jon Solomon
Marsilio Ficino
Commentary on Plotinus, Volume 4: Ennead III, Part 1
Ed. and trans. Stephen Gersh
Giannozzo Manetti
Against the Jews and the Gentiles: Books I–IV
Ed. Stefano U. Baldassarri and Daniela Pagliara; trans. David Marsh
2018
Ludovico Ariosto
Latin Poetry
Ed. and trans. Dennis Looney and D. Mark Possanza
Marsilio Ficino
Commentary on Plotinus, Volume 5: Ennead III, Part 2, and Ennead IV
Ed. and trans. Stephen Gersh
Pope Pius II
Commentaries, Volume 3: Books V–VII
Ed. Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta
2019
Giannozzo Manetti
On Human Worth and Excellence
Ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver
Angelo Poliziano
Greek and Latin Poetry
Ed. and trans. Peter E. Knox
Giovanni Gioviano Pontano
The Virtues and Vices of Speech
Ed. and trans. G. W. Pigman III
Pier Candido Decembrio
Lives of the Milanese Tyrants
Ed. Massimo Zaggia; trans. Gary Ianziti
2020
Angelo Poliziano
Miscellanies, Volume 2
Ed. and trans. Andrew R. Dyck and Alan Cottrell
Angelo Poliziano
Miscellanies, Volume 1
Ed. and trans. Andrew R. Dyck and Alan Cottrell
Giovanni Gioviano Pontano
Dialogues, Volume 3: Aegidius and Asinus
Ed. and trans. Julia Haig Gaisser
Giovanni Gioviano Pontano
Dialogues, Volume 2: Actius
Ed. and trans. Julia Haig Gaisser
2022
Giovanni Gioviano Pontano
Eclogues. Garden of the Hesperides
Ed. and trans. Luke Roman
Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola; Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
Life of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Oration
Ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver, with Michael J. B. Allen
2023
Paolo Giovio
Portraits of Learned Men
Ed. and trans. Kenneth Gouwens
Leon Battista Alberti
Biographical and Autobiographical Writings
Trans. Martin McLaughlin
2024
Leon Battista Alberti
Dinner Pieces, Volume 2
Ed. Roberto Cardini; trans. David Marsh
Leon Battista Alberti
Dinner Pieces, Volume 1
Ed. Roberto Cardini; trans. David Marsh
Poggio Bracciolini; Guarino of Verona; Pietro del Monte
On Leaders and Tyrants
Ed. and trans. Hester Schadee and Keith Sidwell, with David Rundle
2025
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola
900 Conclusions
Ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver
101.
Andrea Navagero; Marcantonio Flaminio
Latin Pastoral Poetry
Ed. and trans. Allan M. Wilson
2026
Marsilio Ficino
Commentary on Plotinus, Volume 1: Ennead I
Ed. and trans. Stephen Gersh
2026
Author: David Paul Wagner