The Quest for Epic: From Ariosto to Tasso (review)
corpus contains “a coherent conception of the intellect and its operation” (237) that begins in the Commento, continues in the Oratio and Conclusiones, and terminates in the Heptaplus. That is, Pico’s corpus — despite being composed of works of diverse genres and aims — contains “a coherent theme of the progression to felicitas, in which intellectual ascent played a partial but vital role” (204). The final chapter of the volume is a detailed analysis of Pico’s treatment of the opening of the Hebrew scriptures — bereshit — or, in the Latin Vulgate — in principio — in the context of antecedent Jewish sources. The book concludes with a précis and a bibliography. As noted above, the present reviewer considers the book to be a success. Although the volume correctly bills itself as “the first full-length study of the Heptaplus,” the present reviewer would have liked to see an engagement with Vico Allegretti, Esegesi medievale e umanesimo: L’Heptaplus di Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1997). Further, while the author of the study succeeds in situating the Heptaplus thematically within the context of all of Pico’s earlier major works by focusing on the concept of unity with God or felicitas, little attention is given to Pico’s last and longest work, the posthumously-published Disputationes. The present reviewer sees no reason why the author could not have added this work to the account, thereby completing a task others have long sought to give, namely, a unified view of Pico’s literary corpus. M. V. DOUGHERTY Ohio Dominican University