[1] Sen., xvi., 2.
[2] The first half of the letter is omitted.
[3] In 1353.
[4] That is, to Prague in 1356.
[5] In 1360. All three missions were undertaken for the dukes of Milan.
[6] Of Padua.
[7] I.e., Francesco Nelli, Prior of the church of Santi Apostoli at Florence. He died of the plague in 1363. Not only did Petrarch dedicate his Letters of Old Age to Nelli, but of the letters preserved, he addresses a greater number (thirty-five) to him than to any other of his correspondents.
[8] Cf. John of Salisbury's Prologue to his Policraticus for a much earlier description of the pure joys of literature.
[9] Presumably that which contained the translation of Boccaccio's story of Griselda. See above, pp. [191] sqq.
[10] A letter from a contemporary, Manzini de la Motta (July 1, 1388), thus describes Petrarch's end: "Francesco Petrarca, the mirror of our century, after completing a vast array of volumes, on reaching his seventy-first year, closed his last day in his library. He was found leaning over a book as if sleeping, so that his death was not at first suspected by his household."—Quoted by Fracassetti, Let. delle Cose Fam., vol. ii., p. 348.