The Textual History of Ficino's De Amore

Extract

Students of Renaissance thought and letters have long recognized the importance of Marsilio Ficino's Commentarium in Convivium Phtonis De Amore. Thanks to the edition of M. l'Abbé Raymond Marcel, we also know for certain the date and the manner of its origin, and, in outline, the history of the manuscript tradition. The purpose of this note is to summarize and confirm Marcel's account and to add to it some details which have recently come to light.

To begin with, Marcel has laid to rest forever the thesis of A. della Torre that Ficino composed two versions of the De Amore but for religious reasons allowed only one to survive. There was only one Commentarium, occasioned, at least, by the conversation at a real banquet which Ficino and his friends held at Careggi on November 7, 1468, to celebrate the birthday of Plato.