PETRARCH THE AUTHOR 



important reason why the humanist's correspondence 

 is interesting historically if not intrinsically. The letter 

 is the essay more or less embryonic, more or less de- 

 veloped. But when we turn to Petrarch's correspon- 

 dence, we do so with a hunger for the letter pure and 

 simple, and we are not asking too much. " I remember," 

 he says, " Seneca's laughing at Cicero for including in 

 his letters unimportant matters, and nevertheless I am 

 far more incHned to follow Cicero than Seneca. Seneca 

 indeed stored in his letters nearly all the moral reflec- 

 tions which he had pubHshed in his various books, while 

 Cicero treated philosophical subjects in his books and 

 filled his letters with the varied news and gossip of the 

 day. Whatever Seneca may think about it, I must say 

 that I find Cicero's correspondence very entertaining." 

 And again in a letter to Socrates, which serves as a 

 preface to the collection (just as one addressed to the 

 same person brings it to a close), he speaks of Cicero 

 again: " To return to the letters, you will find many 

 written in a famihar style to friends, including yourself, 

 sometimes referring to matters of pubHc or private 

 interest, sometimes relating to bereavements (which 

 form, alas ! an ever recurring theme), or to other matters 

 which circumstances brought into prominence. I have 

 discussed almost nothing else, except as I have spoken 

 of my state of mind or have imparted some bit of news 

 to my friends. I approve, you see, what Cicero says in 

 his first letter to his brother, that it is the proper aim of 

 a letter to inform the one to whom it is directed of 



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