Review

`adds importantly to the sum, illuminating with new evidence the nature of Venetian intellectual culture, especially in the sixteenth century' American Historical Review

`excellent use of recent work on Venetian history and culture' American Historical Review

`Kallendorf has written a book of erudition and complexity that is not only an important contribution but enjoyable to read as well.' Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXII/3

`begins with a clear, precise, and learned explanation of the problem.' Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXII/3

`Kallendorf takes the best that postmodern criticism has to offer and jettisons the worst. He is not an author with a text and an agenda, but a careful scholar genuinely interested in uncovering the ways in which Virgil was received by Rennaissance Venetians and in turn how that reception supported or underminded the dominant culture.' Sixteenth Century Journal, XXXII/3

`Kallendorf provides useful traditional bibliographical information ... Kallendorf has read widely in the secondary literature; no important work has been omitted for the many topics covered. The format of the book is helpful: the original Latin or Italian and then an English translation is provided for all significant marginalia or passages; there are footnotes rather than endnotes; and careful proofreading.' Paul F. Grendler, Renaissance Studies, Vol 15, No 1

`The most important contribution of the book is to bring to light new and interesting evidence from individual copies of books about how Renaissance Venetian readers understood and used Virgil. This is carefully done.' Paul F. Grendler, Renaissance Studies, Vol 15, No 1

Product Description

This book, which is the first comprehensive study of its subject, shows that the Roman poet Virgil played an unexpectedly significant role in the shaping of Renaissance Venetian culture. Drawing on reception theory and the sociology of literature, it argues that Virgil's poetry became a best-seller because it sometimes challenged, but more often confirmed, the specific moral, religious, and social values of the Venetian readers.