The I Tatti Everyday Renaissance Library is a book series published by

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, which aims to present important works of Italian Renaissance

Latin Literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literatur ...

to a modern audience by printing the original

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

text on each left-hand leaf (verso), and an English translation on the facing page (recto). The idea was initially conceived by Walter Kaiser, former professor of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard and director of the Villa I Tatti and James Hankins. Its goal is to be the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

version of the

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...

. James Hankins, Professor of History at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, is the General Editor. As of 2021, the series had sold more than 100,000 copies. In March 2025, it published its 100th volume. Many of the books in the series have never been translated into English before, and the series promises to increase the understanding of the Renaissance among the general public and non-specialist historians by making

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was cre ...

s accessible, thus giving a window into the minds of Renaissance thinkers themselves. The books of The I Tatti Renaissance Library have a consistent appearance: a pale blue cover, analogous to the red (Latin) or green (Greek) books in the

. They are, however, closer in size to a standard hardcover book than to the pocket-sized books of the Loeb series. A typeface named "ITRL", based on the work of Renaissance typographer

Nicolas Jenson Nicholas (or Nicolas) Jenson (c. 1420–1480) was a French engraver, pioneer, printer and type designer who carried out most of his work in Venice, Italy. Jenson acted as Master of the French Royal Mint at Tours and is credited with being the cr ...

, was specially designed for the series. The books are notable for their overall readability.

Anthony Grafton Anthony Thomas Grafton (born May 21, 1950) is an American historian of early modern Europe and the Henry Putnam University Professor of History at Princeton University, where he is also the Director the Program in European Cultural Studies. He i ...

said of the Latin texts: "though not full, critical editions, heyare correct, well punctuated and readable. The English translations have an unusual clarity, elegance and precision". The series is named after the Villa I Tatti in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, which houses the Center for Italian Renaissance Studies of

Publication history

* ''Famous Women'',

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian people, Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so ...

, ed. and trans. Virginia Brown, 2001 ** Paperback available in 2003 * ''History of the Florentine People, Volume 1'',

Leonardo Bruni Leonardo Bruni or Leonardo Aretino ( – March 9, 1444) was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman, often recognized as the most important humanist historian of the early Renaissance. He has been called the first modern historian. He was t ...

, ed. and trans. James Hankins, 2001 ** ''Volume 2'' available in 2004 ** ''Volume 3'' available in 2007, trans. James Hankins and D.J.W. Bradley * ''Platonic Theology, Volume 1'',

Marsilio Ficino Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of Neo ...

, ed. James Hankins, trans. Michael J.B. Allen, 2001 ** ''Volume 2'' available in 2002 ** ''Volume 3'' available in 2003 ** ''Volume 4'' available in 2004 ** ''Volume 5'' available in 2005 ** ''Volume 6'' available in 2006 * ''Humanist Educational Treatises'', ed. and trans. Craig W. Kallendorf, 2002 ** Paperback available in 2008 * ''On Discovery'',

Polydore Vergil Polydore Vergil or Virgil (Italian: Polidoro Virgili, commonly Latinised as Polydorus Vergilius; – 18 April 1555), widely known as Polydore Vergil of Urbino, was an Italian humanist scholar, historian, priest and diplomat, who spent much of ...

, ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver, 2002 * ''Biographical Writings'', Giannozzo Manetti, ed. and trans. Stefano U. Baldassarri and Rolf Bagemihl, 2003 * ''Momus'',

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...

, ed. Virginia Brown, ed. and trans. Sarah Knight, 2003 * ''Commentaries, Volume 1'', Pius II, ed. Margaret Meserve and Marcello Simonetta, 2004 ** ''Volume 2'' available in 2007 ** ''Volume 3'' available in 2018 * ''Invectives'', Francesco Petrarca, ed. and trans. David Marsh, 2004 ** Paperback available in 2008 * ''Later Travels'', Cyriac of Ancona, ed. and trans. Edward W. Bodnar, 2004 * ''Short Epics'',

Maffeo Vegio Maffeo Vegio () (1407–1458) was an Italian poet who wrote in Latin; he is regarded by many as the finest Latin poet of the fifteenth century. Born near Lodi, Lombardy, Lodi, he studied at the University of Pavia, and went on to write some fifty ...

, ed. and trans. James Hankins and Michael C.J. Putnam, 2004 * ''Silvae'', Angelo Poliziano, ed. and trans. Charles Fantazzi, 2004 * ''Humanist Comedies'', ed. and trans. Gary R. Grund, 2005 * ''Italy Illuminated, Volume 1: Books I-IV'', Flavio Biondo, ed. and trans. Jeffrey A. White, 2005 ** ''Volume 2: Books V–VIII'', 2016 * ''Lyric Poetry. Etna'',

Pietro Bembo Pietro Bembo, (; 20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547) was a Venetian scholar, poet, and literary theory, literary theorist who also was a member of the Knights Hospitaller and a cardinal of the Catholic Church. As an intellectual of the Italian Re ...

, ed. and trans. Mary P. Chatfield, trans. Betty Radice, 2005 * ''Baiae'', Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, ed. and trans. Dennis G. Rodney, 2006 * ''Letters, Volume 1'', Angelo Poliziano, ed. and trans. Shane Butler, 2006 * ''Baldo, Volume 1'', Teofilo Folengo, ed. and trans. Ann E. Mullaney, 2007 ** ''Volume 2'' available in 2008 * ''Ciceronian Controversies'', ed. Joann Dellaneva, trans. Brian Duvick, 2007 * ''History of Venice, Volume 1'',

, ed. and trans. Robert W. Ulery, Jr., 2007 ** ''Volume 2'' available in 2008 ** ''Volume 3'' available in 2009 * ''On The Donation of Constantine'',

Lorenzo Valla Lorenzo Valla (; also latinized as Laurentius; 1 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance humanist, rhetorician, educator and scholar. He is best known for his historical-critical textual analysis that proved that the Donation of Constantine w ...

, ed. and trans. G. W. Bowersock, 2007 ** Paperback available in 2008 * ''Commentaries on Plato, Volume 1: Phaedrus and Ion'',

, ed. and trans. Michael J. B. Allen, 2008 ** ''Volume 2: Parmenides, Part 1'', ed. and trans. Maude Vanhaelen, 2012 ** ''Volume 2: Parmenides, Part 2'', ed. and trans. Maude Vanhaelen, 2012 * ''Essays and Dialogues'', Bartolomeo Scala, ed. and trans. Renee Neu Watkins, 2008 * ''Lives of the Popes, Volume 1: Antiquity'', Bartolomeo Platina, ed. and trans. Anthony F. d' Elia, 2008 * ''Poems'', Cristoforo Landino, ed. and trans. Mary P. Chatfield, 2008 * ''Writings on Church and Reform'',

Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic bishop and polymath active as a philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first Ger ...

, ed. and trans. Thomas M. Izbicki, 2008 * ''Christiad'', Marco Girolamo Vida, ed. and trans. James Gardner, 2009 * ''Latin Poetry'',

Jacopo Sannazaro Jacopo Sannazaro (; 28 July 1458 – 6 August 1530) was an Italian poet, Renaissance humanism, humanist, member and head of the Accademia Pontaniana from Kingdom of Naples, Naples. He wrote easily in Latin language, Latin, in Italian and in Neap ...

, ed. and trans. Michael C. J. Putnam, 2009 * ''Odes'',

Francesco Filelfo Francesco Filelfo (; 25 July 1398 – 31 July 1481) was an Italian Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist and author of the philosophic dialogue ''On Exile''. Biography Filelfo was born at Tolentino, in the March of Ancona. He is believed t ...

, ed. and trans. Diana Robin, 2009 * ''Republics and Kingdoms Compared'', Aurelio Lippo Brandolini, ed. and trans. James Hankins, 2009 * ''Book on Music'', Florentius de Faxolis, ed. and trans. Bonnie J. Blackburn and Leofranc Holford-Strevens, 2010 * ''The Hermaphrodite'', Antonio Beccadelli, ed. and trans. Holt Parker, 2010 * ''Sacred Painting. Museum'',

Federico Borromeo Federico Borromeo (; 18 August 1564 – 21 September 1631) was an Italian cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan, Archbishop of Milan, and prominent figure of the Counter-Reformation in Italy. His acts of charity, ...

, ed. and trans. Kenneth S. Rothwell, Jr., 2010 * ''Genealogy of the Pagan Gods, Volume 1: Books I–V'',

, ed. and trans. Jon Solomon, 2011 ** ''Volume 2: Books VI–X'', 2017 * ''Humanist Tragedies'', ed. and trans. Gary R. Grund, 2011 * ''Letters to Friends'', Bartolomeo Fonzio, ed. Alessandro Daneloni, trans. Martin Davies, 2011 * ''Modern Poets'', Lilio Gregorio Giraldi, ed. and trans. John N. Grant, 2011 * ''Dialectical Disputations, Volume 1: Book I'',

, ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver and Lodi Nauta, 2012 ** ''Volume 2: Books II-III'', 2012 * ''Dialogues, Volume 1: Charon and Antoninus'', Giovanni Pontano, ed. and trans. Julia Haig Gaisser, 2012 ** ''Volume 2: Actius'', 2020 ** ''Volume 3: Aegidius and Asinus'', 2020 * ''Poems'', Michael Tarchaniota Marullus, trans. Charles Fantazzi, 2012 * ''Latin Poetry'', Girolamo Fracastoro, trans. James Gardner, 2013 * ''Notable Men and Women of Our Time'', Paolo Giovio, ed. and trans. Kenneth Gouwens, 2013 * ''On Exile'',

, ed. Jeroen De Keyser, trans. W. Scott Blanchard, 2013 * ''On Methods, Volume 1: Books I-II'', Jacopo Zabarella, ed. and trans. John P. McCaskey, 2013 ** ''Volume 2: Books III-IV. On Regressus'', 2014 * '' On the World and Religious Life'',

Coluccio Salutati Coluccio Salutati (16 February 1331 – 4 May 1406) was an Italian Renaissance humanist and notary, and one of the most important political and cultural leaders of Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history ...

, trans. Tina Marshall 2014 * ''On Married Life. Eridanus'', Giovanni Gioviano Pontano, trans. Roman Luke 2014 * ''The Lepanto Battel'', ed. and trans. Elizabeth R. Wright, Sarah Spence, Andrew Lemons, 2014 * ''Political Writings'',

, ed. Stefano U. Baldassarri, trans. Rolf Bagemihl,, 2014 * ''Correspondence'',

, ed. and trans. Brendan Cook, 2014 * ''Life and Early Travels'', Cyriacus of Ancona, ed. and trans. Charles Mitchell, Edward W. Bodnar, Clive Foss, 2015 * ''On Dionysius the Areopagite, Volume 1: Mystical Theology and The Divine Names, Part I'',

, ed. and trans. Michael J. B. Allen, 2015 ** ''Volume 2: The Divine Names, Part II'', 2015 * ''Apologetic Writings'',

Girolamo Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, ; ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498), also referred to as Jerome Savonarola, was an ascetic Dominican friar from Ferrara and a preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He became known for his prophecies of civic ...

, ed. and trans. M. Michèle Mulchahey, 2015 * ''Fiammetta. Paradise'', Ugolino Verino, ed. and trans. Allan M. Wilson, 2016 * ''The Greek Classics'',

Aldus Manutius Aldus Pius Manutius (; ; 6 February 1515) was an Italian printer and Renaissance humanism, humanist who founded the Aldine Press. Manutius devoted the later part of his life to publishing and disseminating rare texts. His interest in and preser ...

, ed. and trans. N. G. Wilson, 2016 * ''A Translator’s Defense'', Giannozzo Manetti, ed. Myron McShane, trans. Mark Young, 2016 * ''My Secret Book'',

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

, ed. and trans. Nicholas Mann, 2016 * ''Angelinetum and Other Poems'', Giovanni Marrasio, trans. Mary P. Chatfield, 2016 * ''Rome in Triumph, Volume 1: Books I–II'', Flavio Biondo, ed. Maria Agata Pincelli, trans. Frances Muecke, 2016 * ''Selected Letters, Volume 1'',

, trans.

Elaine Fantham Elaine Fantham (born Elaine Crosthwaite, 25 May 1933 – 11 July 2016) was a British-Canadian classicist whose expertise lay particularly in Latin literature, especially comedy, epic poetry and rhetoric, and in the social history of Roman women. ...

, 2017 ** ''Volume 2'' available in 2017 * ''Humanism and the Latin Classics'',

, ed. and trans. John N. Grant, 2017 * ''Against the Jews and the Gentiles: Books I–IV'', Giannozzo Manetti, ed. Stefano U. Baldassarri, Daniela Pagliara, trans. David Marsh, 2017 * ''Commentary on Plotinus, Volume 4: Ennead III, Part 1'',

, ed. and trans. Stephen Gersh, 2017 ** ''Volume 5: Ennead III, Part 2, and Ennead IV'', 2018 * ''Latin Poetry'',

Ludovico Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (, ; ; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic '' Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describ ...

, ed. and trans. Dennis Looney, D. Mark Possanza, 2018 * ''On Human Worth and Excellence'', Giannozzo Manetti, ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver, 2019 * ''Greek and Latin Poetry'',

Poliziano Agnolo (or Angelo) Ambrogini (; 14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known as Angelo Poliziano () or simply Poliziano, anglicized as Politian, was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His scholars ...

, ed. and trans. Peter E. Knox, 2019 * ''The Virtues and Vices of Speech'', Giovanni Pontano, ed. and trans. G. W. Pigman III, 2019 * ''Lives of the Milanese Tyrants'', Pier Candido Decembrio, ed. Massimo Zaggia, trans. Gary Ianziti, 2019 * ''Miscellanies, Volume 1'',

, ed. and trans. Andrew R. Dyck, Alan Cottrell, 2020 ** ''Volume 2'' available in 2020 * ''Life of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Oration'', Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola,

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Giovanni Pico dei conti della Mirandola e della Concordia ( ; ; ; 24 February 146317 November 1494), known as Pico della Mirandola, was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, ...

, ed. and trans. Brian P. Copenhaver with Michael J. B. Allen, 2022 * ''Eclogues. Garden of the Hesperides'', Giovanni Pontano, ed. and trans. Luke Roman, 2022 * ''Portraits of Learned Men'', Paolo Giovio, ed. and trans. Kenneth Gouwens, 2023 * ''Biographical and Autobiographical Writings'',

, trans. Martin McLaughlin, 2023

References

External links

The I Tatti Renaissance Library
at

.
Villa I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Renaissance Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:I Tatti Renaissance Library, The Renaissance works Dual-language series of texts Harvard University Press books Renaissance Latin literature Translations into English