Description
Volume 2 in the Shepheard-Walwyn edition corresponds with Book III of the original Latin edition.
Volumes 1-10 are available here as a complete set at a reduced price.
Volume 12 completes a celebrated publishing project that has established itself as a classic resource for Renaissance philosophical thought. Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) was the leading creative thinker of the Florentine Renaissance. His landmark study and translation of classical Greek philosophers revitalised European intellectual life and transformed the Western philosophical tradition.
Immersing himself in the Platonic tradition, including Plato, Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyry and Iamblichus, Ficino demonstrated how ancient wisdom enhances and deepens Christian theology. This final volume goes right to the heart of his endeavours, containing the letters of his Second Book. Reserved to the last because of their distinct character, these letters are effectively short treatises. They clearly reveal how Ficino integrated classical discoveries with the spiritual needs of his generation, standing alongside his landmark Platonic Theology and commentary On Love.
______________________________________________
Author Details
Dr Valery Rees holds a doctorate in Renaissance Studies from the University of Cambridge and has published extensively on Ficino and Renaissance thought. Arthur Farndell is an established editor within the series and translator of several key Renaissance titles on the Shepheard-Walwyn list.
The translators are members of the Faculty of Renaissance Studies (formerly the Language Department) at the School of Philosophy and Economic Science. Over more than 50 years, this translation group has maintained a consistent, rigorous, and highly cooperative methodology to bring Ficino’s complete letters into English.
______________________________________________
Reviews
‘This beautiful volume brings to a fitting conclusion decades of devoted scholarship. Like the others, it takes us into the Platonic heart of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s Florence and the whole Renaissance movement.’
– James Hankins, Professor of History, Harvard University, emeritus, Visiting Professor, UF Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education, author of The Golden Thread: A History of the Western Tradition.
‘This culmination of the series is a brilliant and indispensable addition to Ficino studies. The translations are both accurate and attractively readable, and the rigorous scholarship and deep understanding of Ficino’s developing philosophical ideas illuminate the riches of his extraordinary achievement.’
– Angie Hobbs, Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy, University of Sheffield, emerita, author of Why Plato Matters Now.
‘The newly translated letters in this volume shed much light on the complex and compelling mind of Marsilio Ficino, a towering and prodigious figure in the Platonic tradition. Highly recommended.’
– Douglas Hedley, Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, University of Cambridge, Director of the Cambridge Centre for the Study of Platonism, author of The Iconic Imagination.
‘This volume in particular makes Ficino’s brilliance on philosophy of mind, love, nature, and theology, among much else, available to readers.’
– Denis J.-J. Robichaud, Professor of Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame, author of Plato’s Persona.
‘Letters served as one of the most important vehicles for this great Renaissance philosopher to transmit his thinking. This volume offers excellent, fluid translations, buttressed by deeply learned explanatory notes that allow a modern reader to appreciate this crucially important European philosopher.’
– Christopher S. Celenza, Professor of History and Classics, Johns Hopkins University, author of The Evolution of Western Thought.
