Lancillotto Pasi, In hortos Columellae: edizione critica con traduzione e commento

This dissertation presents the critical edition, with translation and commentary, of In hortos Columellae commentarium by Curio Lancillotto Pasi, preserved solely in the autograph manuscript Laurenziano Pluteo 52.22. The study aims to reconstruct the sources and working methods of the author, clarifying his role in the humanistic rediscovery and interpretation of Columella. The work is situated within the broader context of the renewed fifteenth-century interest in the Scriptores rei rusticae. In particular, Columella’s Book X, the only one composed in verse, attracted the philological and antiquarian attention of humanists. Pasi’s commentary demonstrates a deliberate integration of philological, erudite, and naturalistic expertise, resulting in a complex and independent interpretation of the Latin text. The analysis compares Pasi’s commentary with those of his predecessors, Pomponio Leto and Giorgio Merula, highlighting continuities, reworkings, and innovations. By examining Pasi’s text alongside the incunabula and manuscripts available to him, this study situates the author within the cultural history of the fifteenth century, illuminating the tools and working practices of a minor humanist active between Rome and the Estense province. The analysis underscores his engagement with editorial innovations and with debates promoted by more prominent figures with whom he was frequently in contact. The textual investigation demonstrates that the study of lesser-known humanists can provide significant insights into already familiar phenomena, offering new and complementary perspectives on the circulation and transformation of classical knowledge during the fifteenth century.