To say that the production of this book would not have been possible without the support of a number of people is neither a formality nor an exaggeration, and I wish to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to those who have helped me in various ways.
Firstly, I am indebted to the staff of the manuscript department of the Narodowa library in Warsaw, an authentic scholarsâ paradise where I spent much time exploring the magnificent treasures of the Polish Renaissance. The director, Anna Romaniuk, and her assistants always responded with the greatest solicitude to my numerous requests, and I should particularly like to thank Patryk SapaÅa for his kindness. I am similarly grateful to the employees of other libraries and institutions where I have studied, including the Berenson library at Villa i Tatti, that of the Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento and the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel.
My sincere thanks also to my friends, Giancarlo Casale, Olga Kucharczyk, Laura Refe and Matthias Roick, for their constant and invaluable advice, and to those who generously offered me ideas and new input for my research on numerous occasions, including Jerzy Axer, Michele Ciliberto, Neil Harris, David Lines and Piotr Salwa.
I am particularly grateful to Mordechai Feingold, who believed in my project to the point of accepting it for publication in his prestigious series. My affectionate thanks also to David Aberrà , Aelmuire Helen Cleary and Laura Fedi, who devoted extraordinary care and attention to the linguistic and editorial revision of the book.
Finally, my most heartfelt thanks to my husband Fulvio Guatelli, an attentive and exacting reader who corrects my mistakes with heroic patience; discussing the more thorny aspects of my studies with him is an essential and indispensable part of my research.
I must end with a special and profound thank you to Danilo Facca and all my colleagues at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences for their constant support and encouragement. Working with them is a privilege and a pleasure, and I should like to dedicate this book to our friendship and collaboration.