Pietro Aretino (1492-1556) was an influential Italian author, playwright, poet and satirist. He is credited with inventing modern literate pornography.

Whether sharing his anxieties about his writing, consoling bereaved friends, complaining about the meanness of a patron or defending himself against malicious gossip, John Donne reveals himself in his letters with a directness that can be found nowhere else in his writings. These letters corroborate the impression created by his better-known writings that he was one of the most remarkable figures produced by the English Renaissance and that he possessed an extraordinarily subtle and creative intelligence.

An interdisciplinary exploration of one of the most prolific and controversial figures of early modern Europe. This volume is comprised of seven sections, each devoted to a specific aspect Aretino’s life and works.