Content area
Full Text
The Italian Reformation of the Sixteenth Century and the Diffusion of Renaissance Culture. A Bibliography of the Secondary Literature (Ca. 1750-1997). Compiled by John Tedeschi in association with James M. Lattis. With an Historiographical Introduction by Massimo Firpo. [Istituto di Studi Rinascimentali, Ferrara, Strumenti.] (Modena: F C. Panini. 2000. Pp. iliii, 1047. Lire 300,000.)
To review a bibliography is always an arduous task, but how much more so when one finds oneself in the presence of John Tedeschi's monumental construction. Yet the undertaking is assuredly rewarding because of the fact that, in the year it has been in existence, this imposing volume has already assumed its place as an indispensable working tool and a familiar companion in our research.
The Italian Reformation of the Sixteenth Century and the Diffusion of Renaissance Culture.-A Bibliograpby of the Secondary Literature is the valuable product of a multi-decade commitment, achieved not only with discipline and erudition but also with a rare capacity to master a vast field of studies over the chronological sweep of more than two centuries. The bibliography takes as its starting-point the first systematic effort to write a history of the Reformation in Italy, namely, the Specimen Italiae Reformatae of Daniel Gerdes (1765), a work through which Italy's role in the Protestant Reformation entered the realm of historical scholarship; and it closes with publications appearing in 1997 after an extended journey through a good 6429 entries or headings. This is a remarkable figure when one considers that Chiminelli's bibliography of 1921 counted a little more than 2000 confusingly listed items.'
In Tedeschi's work, it suffices to cast a glance over the list of journals that have been examined, to recognize the scope of the investigation and the accuracy and patience with which even the most obscure periodicals have been combed. To these have been joined monographs, studies in symposium volumes, and critical editions of sources. With the exceptions indicated by an asterisk, the material has all been examined at first hand in order to be able to highlight the essential contribution of each item. In fact, the entries are not limited to reporting the basic bibliographical data but furnish brief, clear resum,6s of the contents, accompanied by critical annotations that help to orient the reader.
At...