Renaissance Rhetoric Short-title Catalogue, 1460-1700

Two decades ago, Paul O. Kristeller called for 'a correct and complete listing of the manuscript and printed sources' for study of the pervasive influence of rhetoric on Renaissance culture. The Renaissance Rhetoric Short Title Catalogue, 1460-1700 now provides those primary printed sources, with 1,717 authors and 3,842 rhetorical titles in 12,325 printings, published in 310 towns and cities by 3,340 printers and publishers from Finland to Mexico prior to 1700. The catalogue is presented in alphabetical order by author surnames, with place, printer, date, and library locations for each publication, following the format for entries devised by James J. Murphy in Renaissance Rhetoric: A Short Title Catalogue (1981). Lawrence D. Green has restructured that earlier work and vastly expanded it, more than doubling the number of authors and titles, and adding thousands of new printings and library holdings. An extensive introduction explores the state of bibliography in Renaissance rhetoric today. The RRSTC takes full advantage of contemporary resources for information retrieval from several hundred libraries, leading one reviewer to praise it as 'the most complete, and the most accurate, inventory of Renaissance rhetoric ever attempted. Its vast scope will surprise even those with some awareness of the importance of the art of persuasion in this period'.