We all owe a great debt to Poggio Bracciolini, who in the early 15th century hunted down and recovered so many classical texts. His letters have never been published in English, aside from an unsatisfactory collection to his friend Niccolo Niccoli, whose massive collection of Greek and Latin manuscripts forms the kernel of the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana in Florence.
Harvard University Press have launched a series modelled on the Loeb Classical Library for renaissance writers. Details about it are here.
UPDATE (2012): Updated link for the I Tatti library here.
Dear Sir: Is there a forthcoming translation of Poggio’s letters? I have contacted the I Tatti Renaissance Library and they say that the Poggio translation has been in limbo for many years and is not likely to appear soon. Do you have other information?
Well that link seems to be dead now, 5 years on. I have no further information on this. But who did you contact? What did they say? I wonder if the translation has been made, or what the status is?
I would rather not give his name without his consent, but one of the editors at the I Tatti Renaissance Library responded to my question about Poggio’s letters. He said that a translation had been commissioned about 10 years ago, but has been in limbo since then, for whatever reason. I am really disappointed about this, since Poggio was one of the major players back then. And his letters, I have heard, are very interesting. Somebody needs to do this…
It sounds as if the project has gone nowhere. The library need to recall the commission, and place it elsewhere. 10 years is far too long.
What a great shame!
But what interesting texts are now available! And all that material by Pietro Bembo!