Thanks to Daniela Marrone, Poliziano’s work is now available in modern critical edition. Published under the aegis of the Edizione Nazionale delle Opere di Angelo Poliziano (Testi, IX.3.2), the text is accompanied by an extensive historical-philological introduction, as well as a substantial apparatus of notes and appendices. Marrone thus renders a significant service to scholarship by making accessible a work that is important in several respects: it offers valuable insight into humanist discussions of the ordo scientiarum and represents a text enjoying wide and enduring circulation well into the sixteenth century, as attested by its numerous printed editions.

In her introduction, Daniela Marrone carefully highlights the distinctive features of Poliziano’s work within the broader context of contemporary academic prolusions. Unlike most introductory lectures of the period, Poliziano’s text largely dispenses with conventional rhetorical elements. It avoids the customary encomium of the author, omits the familiar repertoire of illustrative anecdotes drawn from classical literature, and significantly reduces the display of erudite quotations that typically functioned as a marker of humanist authority. Likewise, the standard exhortation addressed to students – a frequent component of university prolusions intended to encourage moral and intellectual commitment – is almost entirely absent. Marrone convincingly shows that this departure from established models is deliberate and programmatic. Rather than adhering to traditional ceremonial expectations, Poliziano privileges systematic exposition and conceptual organization.

At the core of the praelectio lies a systematic classification of disciplines and arts, which Poliziano presents as a notably original contribution. He emphasizes the novelty of his scheme, above all, in its claim to comprehensiveness. The classification encompasses not only the disciplinae and the traditional artes liberales, but also the artes mechanicae, including fields such as optics, mechanics, and astrology. Significantly, Poliziano further extends this taxonomy to include the artes sordidae ac sellulariae, that is, humble and manual activities associated with craftsmanship and artisanal production. In doing so, he advances the idea that every dimension of human activity corresponds to a form of knowledge worthy of inclusion within an ordered intellectual system. For Poliziano, therefore, any project aimed at constructing a universal map of learning must account for the full spectrum of human practices, from the most theoretical to the most practical.

No autograph manuscript of the Panepistemon survives, nor are there extant manuscripts that can be directly traced back to Poliziano’s original text. The only printed edition published during the author’s lifetime is the Miscomini edition produced in Florence in 1492. This was followed by nineteen further printed editions, as well as one manuscript witness, which can be grouped into two distinct textual families. Marrone’s critical edition is based on the Florentine print, whose text she emends through systematic comparison with the later editions. At the end of the introduction, she provides a complete collation and detailed description of all known witnesses, including a careful record of textual variants. Marrone’s work stands out for its high level of philological rigor and methodological transparency. By establishing a reliable text and clarifying the relationships among the witnesses, she has provided an essential tool for future research, for which the scholarly community owes her considerable gratitude.

Tommaso De Robertis, University of Macerata