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David Wilson-Okamura: <<We've all seen this at conferences: someone goes on and on about "Petrarchan this" and "Petrarchan that," when the speaker has read all of _four_ poems by Petrarch.>> Never mind conferences, what about the texts? How many early modern English Petrarchans do people think had read more than four poems by Petrarch, if that? Does having read contemporary continental poetry, but not Petrarch himself count? And from the academic point of view, how many poems by Petrarch should you have read before you can authoritatively say what 'Petrarchan' means? Helen Vincent Curator Rare Book Collections National Library of Scotland Tel: +44 (0) 131 226 4531 George IV Bridge Fax: +44 (0) 131 466 2807 Edinburgh Email: [log in to unmask] EH1 1EW Scotland