Note 216 — Chapter V
Reading edition
See supra, p. 43, and Appendix I. The view that it was begun in 1336 is defended by Renier, La Vita Nuova e la Fiammetta (Torino, 1879), p. 238 et seq. That this was his first book we might assert from the evidence of its form and style. He himself, however, says in the Introduction: "E se le presenti cose a voi giovani e donzelle generano ne' vostri animi alcun frutto o dilletto, non siate ingrati di porgere divote laudi a Giove e al nuovo autore" (Filocolo, ed. cit., Lib. I, p. 9).