2- 

I found it interesting that Poggio did not care to further examine the poem besides an initial glance (205). I would assume, with his level of thoroughness and examination–that he would give greater care to a piece of literature. Particularly since it was a copy made specifically for him and was a text that he did not have access to. It makes me wonder if the copy was actually bad enough based on first glance that there was no need for Poggio to keep it as it didn’t meet his standards. In previous chapters, it is obvious that Poggio has high standards to the material he reads and reproduces. So I am partially not surprised that he did not care to further examine what he believed to be a poorly written poem. 

Another thing from this week’s chapter that stuck out to me was how researchers could make assumptions on Poggio’s mental state based off of the books he chose to translate. For example, it was assumed that Poggio was not doing well due to the fact that he translated a copy of The Wretchedness of the Human Condition which has themes of melancholy and sadness. However, soon after, Poggio chose to translate a comedic text–making researchers question whether his mental state was really that bad. For some reason, I just assumed that Poggio was not able to pick what books to translate or rewrite therefore it would not matter whether he had translated one that was comedy or a tragedy. 

1-  I made a text to world connection to the author’s notes about Poggio’s influence and placement in society being quickly replaced by up and coming celebrities. It reminded me of how now in the media, influential figures do not hold influence for long. Many times they slowly lose fame due to a viewer’s lack of  interest or if they are involved in something controversial. 

Q- Poggio was a huge assistance in conserving manuscripts–why is he not more well known?