As a Fulbright Grantee in Florence from 1953 to early 1955, I transcribed and collected 500 Latin inscriptions throughout the city and environs. Along with a transcription of the text for each inscription I noted its date (where possible) and its specific location. After this ‘field work’ was completed I began research in a local library ( Kunst Historische Institut) to write a monograph on one important inscription (the Dedication Inscription of the Palazzo el Podestà) which was later published (1956) in Rivista d’Arte by Leo S. Olschki in Florence. My research also lead me to wonder if these inscriptions scattered throughout Florence in situ had ever been collected, edited and published. The answer, I found, was no.

Years later I decided to expand this original article into a book of the same title which was published in Florence by Casa Editrice Leo S.Olschki in October 2001  My volume examines in detail all the evidence that lead me to be able to attribute its authorship to a noted political figure in Florentine history, namely Brunetto Latini. Again, in this volume I assert the importance of the city’s Latin Inscriptions which have never been edited and published and note that this is a task awaiting scholarly investigation and ultimately being archived in publication.

This is the proposal that my Web Page promotes for a valuable collection of transcriptions which I have collected and preserved on a series of 500 index cards in my possession.