This book is rather a complement to "Scribes and Scholars", and deals in much more detail with how Greek literature became known in the renaissance. After a brief overview of the knowledge of Greek in the middle ages (not much), he moves on to 1394 and the arrival of Manuel Chrysoloras in Florence, and the beginning of Greek studies in the Italian renaissance. The translations by Leonardo Bruni are discussed - indeed the Latin translations in general give much information on the standard of knowledge of Greek.

We meet, in turn, many notable figures of the renaissance, and the book is valuable for this, since it gathers information on many of these figures which is perhaps not all together in one place. The same people, of course, were also involved in Latin and Patristic studies; Filefo, Traversari, Bessarion, Politian. The end point is the death of Aldus in 1515, after which things in Italy are somewhat different.

The notes are of a high quality as usual. The book is indispensible to anyone interested in the transmission of the texts. It ends with a discussion of which texts existed in 1453, but did not survive further; the only demonstrable example being the complete text of Diodorus Siculus, which Constantine Lascaris records having seen in the Imperial palace in Constantinople, and of which we now have somewhat less than half.

The book is dense going, even though deft word portraits of many of the figures involved appear. Very valuable stuff, and highly recommended. Not easy reading, but must be a classic.