Abstract
This article examines the crucial role that Petrarch's epistolary relationship with the Emperor Charles IV plays in the structure of his Rerum Familiarium Libri. In particular, it explores the ways in which Petrarch's letters about letters — what I deem his “metaepistolarity” — reflect indirectly on the author's disillusionment with his attempts to convince Charles to descend into Italy and unite a peninsula divided by chaos. The article first explores the implicit analogies that Petrarch establishes between letterwriting as a means of transcending the self on the one hand and forays into the political arena on the other. It then shows that Petrarch's ultimate disappointment with the Emperor results in an epistolary retreat, evident throughout Book XXIV of the collection, in which the author leaves behind political pursuits in order to return to the realm of the literary.
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