When I first began to collect materials for the writing of the life
of Poggio Bracciolini, I was much indebted to the kindness of my late
friends Mr. Roscoe and Mr. William Clarke, who liberally allowed me
the free use of the scarce books which they possessed, illustrative of
the revival of letters in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. From
various passages which occur in some of these works, I was convinced that
there existed in the public libraries of the city of Florence several
manuscripts, from which much information might be gathered respecting the
history of the scholar, to whose early exertions for the promotion of
sound learning I wished to do justice. In consequence of this persuasion,
I felt a strong desire to visit the Tuscan capital, for the purpose of
copying and analyzing such documents, suitable to my purpose, as I might
there discover. But my professional engagements not allowing me to be
absent from home for the requisite length of time, I was obliged, however
reluctantly, to give up this project as impracticable, and to proceed
in my task with the aid of such printed books as were accessible to me.
Soon after the publication of the first edition of this work, however,
I found that a very interesting portion of the documents which I wished
to inspect existed in my native country. The late Col. Johnes, of Hafod,
having read my Life of Poggio, wrote to me in the spring of the year
1803, to inform me that he had in his library a manuscript volume of
Letters written by my hero, which he would with pleasure permit me to
examine, on the condition of my coming over to Hafod for that purpose.
So frank an invitation I eagerly accepted, and at my earliest leisure
I repaired to the Colonel’s romantic residence, where I was received
with that elegant hospitality, by the exercise of which Mr. Johnes was
distinguished, even in a country where strangers are generally greeted by
the resident gentry with a hearty welcome. On a cursory examination of
the volume which had thus attracted me to the wilds of Cardiganshire,
and which was beautifully written on the finest vellum, I found that it
contained many letters of Poggio which had not been printed. From these
I immediately commenced making extracts of such passages as tended to
throw new light on the particulars of Poggio’s history; and this task
I resumed at future visits which I paid to Hafod, till, at length, the
intercourse between Mr. Johnes and myself ripening into the confidence
of intimate friendship, my kind host was pleased to present me with the
volume itself, which I keep among the most precious of my few literary
treasures, and which I especially value, as the gift of an accomplished
and warm hearted man, whose memory I shall gratefully cherish to the
close of my mortal existence.
Under the guidance of this manuscript I was enabled to settle various
dates of occurrences in the Life of Poggio, which were not supplied by
any printed record which had fallen into my hands; and also to collect
several traits illustrative of his character, which would naturally be
traced in his epistolary correspondence. Other engagements, however,
for some time prevented me from arranging these memoranda, which I had
originally collected with a view to an improved edition of my work. At a
certain period, also, I deferred this task, in hopes of profiting by the
annotations which I was apprized that the learned Dr. Spiker, librarian
to the King of Prussia, had appended to a translation which he had made
of my Life of Poggio into the German language. To my great mortification,
however, the Doctor’s manuscript, which had been put into the hands
of a printer at Berlin, was irrecoverably lost in the confusion which
followed upon the conquest of Prussia by the Emperor Napoleon after the
battle of Jena. The French version of my work by the Compte de Laubepin,
which was published at Paris in the year 1819, I found to be faithful,
and elegant in its style; but its Appendix threw little new light upon
the subject of my lucubrations. My papers relating to Poggio lay, then,
undisturbed in my portfolio, till the appearance in the year 1825 of
the Cavaliere Tonelli’s translation of my work into Italian once more
drew my attention to them, and revived the wish which I had so long ago
entertained to publish an improved edition of the Life of Poggio. For
the Cavaliere had completely smoothed to me the work of correction.
Having had access, not only to a manuscript copy of Poggio’s letters
deposited in the Riccardi library at Florence, of which the volume given
to me by Colonel Johnes is a duplicate, but also to other collections of
Poggio’s epistles, which he had discovered in various libraries on the
continent of Europe, with the first volume of a selection from which he
favoured the literary world in the year 1832, he was enabled to supply
my deficiencies, as well as to rectify the mistakes into which I had in
some few instances fallen, by relying too much on secondary authorities.
This he has done in the notes appended to his translation, which in
their substance exemplify the industry in research of a zealous lover of
literature; and in their temper and style the urbanity of a gentleman.
With such aid to facilitate my labours I experienced little difficulty in
preparing for the press this second edition of the Life of Poggio, which
I now submit to the public, with that confidence in its accuracy, which
is founded upon the circumstance, of its having been improved by the
suggestions of a critic, who has acquired a knowledge, at once minute and
extensive, of the literary history of the period of which I treat, and
whose opinions I cannot but respect, as the result of varied information
and of enlightened judgment.