Epistolae familiares is the title of a collection of letters of Petrarch which he edited during his lifetime. He originally called the collection Epistolarum mearum ad diversos liber but this was later shortened to the current title. Petrarch discovered the text of Cicero’s letters in 1345, which gave him the idea to collect his own sets of letters. It wasn't until four or five years later however, that he actually got started. He collected his letter correspondence in two different time periods. They are referred to as Epistolae familiares and Seniles. Epistolae familiares was largely collected during his stay in Provence about 1351 to 1353, however was not ultimately completed until 1359 when he was in Milan. Petrarch had this collection of letters copied onto parchment in 1359 by a certain ingeniosus homo et amicus with another complete copy done in 1364. He added letters in 1366, bringing his first collection of letters to 350. He broke these down and sorted them into 24 volumes. This first collection of letters called Epistolae familiares were actually written between the years 1325 and 1366. In January 1350 Petrarch wrote a lengthy letter to his dear friend dedicating the collection to him. He requests his friend to keep the letters safely out of sight of the censors and critics. It has since been discovered that Socrates was the FlemishBenedictine monk and music theoristLodewijk Heyligen whose acquaintance Petrarch had made in the circle of cardinal Giovanni Colonna in Avignon.
Letters of Seniles
Petrarch begun a second collection of letters in 1361, also known as Letters of Old Age. It contains 128 letters written between 1361 and 1373. It is also broken down and sorted into volumes. The final letter, the first and only of the 18th book is his incomplete Letter to Posterity. Some English translations of this collection of letters that are out of copyright are available A is also available in two volumes from Italica Press, translated by Aldo S. Bernardo, formerly Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Italian and Comparative Literature, State University of New York at Binghamton.
There are many letters that Petrarch lost or did not keep a copy of. Others he destroyed the originals of for fear they would bring much criticism to his larger collection. There is a collection of 59 of these letters by Giuseppe Fracassetti.
Sine nomine
This special set of letters Petrarch was too fond of to let out of his hands of some nineteen letters was kept out of the main body of Familiar Letters to give respect to the papacy and the controversial lavish lifestyle practiced at Avignon. Liber sine nomine is an epitome of this same work in one volume without a title.
English translations
Francesco Petrarch, Letters on Familiar Matters, translated by Aldo S. Bernardo . ; ; .
Francesco Petrarch, Letters of Old Age, translated by Aldo S. Bernardo, Saul Levin & Reta A. Bernardo. ; .
