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Title: Letter and Book Count as Intertextual Devices in Latin Letter Collections from Antiquity to the Renaissance
Subtitle: The Importance of Manuscript Evidence
Author(s): SMETS, Simon
Journal: Latomus
Volume: 84    Issue: 3   Date: 2025   
Pages: 561-581
DOI: 10.2143/LAT.84.3.3295231

Abstract :
Numerical links between ancient, medieval and renaissance letter collections are will’o-the-wisps, tempting scholars to follow paths of literary influence which may well turn out to be misleading. Based on manuscript examination, this article refutes previous scholars’ suggestions of letter count as an intertextual device linking Hildebert of Lavardin and Peter of Blois before describing the author’s own volte-face with respect to Bartolomeo Fonzio. The article’s positive contribution lies in the argument for book count as an intertextual device in the authored letter collections of Poggio Bracciolini, Leonardo Bruni, Francesco Petrarca, Francesco Filelfo, Angelo Poliziano, Marsilio Ficino, Giorgio Valagussa, Pietro Dolfin and later editions of letters by Ennodius and Ambrogio Traversari.

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