Felice Figliucci - Divine lettere del gran Marsilio Ficino - 1546

First volume of the Divine Letters of the great Marsilio Ficino translated into Tuscan for M. Felice Figliuccii of Siena.

Book in good condition, parchment cover worn and with small holes, inner gatherings fresh with no tears or woodworms, with some damp marks toward the end of the book.

[8] , 320 ,[4] ,

The book is the first volume of the first Italian translation of Ficino’s letters, published in Venice by Gabriel Giolito de’ Ferrari in 1546. The translation is by Felice Figliucci.
The Divine Letters translate Ficino’s Latin epistolary. The form of the letter allows him to communicate philosophical reflections, moral teachings, and spiritual guidance through his relationships with friends, interlocutors, and patrons.

The term “divine” evokes the loftiness of the topics. In the photographed plate appear, among others:

* happiness and beatitude;
* the nature and perfection of the soul;
* love and beauty;
* divine frenzy and music;
* wisdom, knowledge of God, and contemplative life.

These themes reflect the core of Ficino’s thought: the soul tends toward its divine origin and love links the different levels of reality.

The transition from Latin to Tuscan made this heritage accessible to a wider public. Figliucci indeed believed that the vernacular language was fully capable of expressing philosophical concepts. The dedication of the first volume to Cosimo de’ Medici, the future Grand Duke Cosimo I, had already been prepared on January 1.

Marsilio Ficino was born at Figline Valdarno in 1433 and died at Careggi in 1499. A philosopher, translator, and priest, he was one of the leading figures of Renaissance Platonism.

With the support of the Medici, he translated and commented on Plato, Plotinus, and the Hermetic writings, contributing decisively to their dissemination in European culture. He sought to show the harmony between the Platonic tradition and Christianity, placing at the center the dignity and immortality of the soul.

Among his main works are The Platonic Theology, the commentary on the Symposium known as De amore, and the De vita libri tres. His Florentine intellectual milieu is traditionally called the “Platonic Academy”: it should be understood mainly as a circle of scholars and interlocutors, rather than as an institution.

Felice Figliucci was born in Siena in 1518 and died there in 1595. He studied in Padua, exploring the relationship between Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism. He served Cardinal Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, the future Pope Julius III.

He published the first volume of the letters in 1546 and the second in 1548. He also translated Plato, Demosthenes, and Aristotelian texts. In 1556 he joined the Dominican order taking the name Alessio. His work represents an important contribution to the diffusion of philosophy in the Italian language.