Francis Petrarch? Plutarch? Henry Theodore Tuckerman? Frederick Saunders? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: The following ornate passage about love has been attributed to Francis Petrarch, a prominent poet of the Italian Renaissance:
Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth.
I am skeptical because I have never seen a solid citation. Would you please explore the provenance of these words?
Reply from Quote Investigator: The earliest match found by QI appeared in 1845 within “The American Review: A Whig Journal of Politics, Literature, Art, and Science”. Essayist Henry Theodore Tuckerman published a piece about the sonnets composed by Francis Petrarch. In the following passage, Tuckerman was not presenting a direct quotation from Petrarch; instead, Tuckerman was delivering his own summary opinion:1
Love, Petrarch maintains, is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart to life, and is prophetic of eternal good. It is a blessing or a bane, a weakness or a strength, a fearful or a glorious experience, according to the soul in which it is engendered. Let us endeavor to define its action and vindicate its worth, as set forth in the Sonnets of Petrarch.
QI believes Henry Theodore Tuckerman deserves credit for the quotation under examination although Tuckerman was attempting to depict the thoughts of Petrarch.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1848 Tuckerman published “Thoughts on the Poets” which included a chapter about Petrarch. The passage about the poet was reprinted in Tuckerman’s book:2
Also, in 1848 the passage about Petrarch appeared in the book “The Philosophy and Poetry of Love” by Sir George Ramsay. The accompanying footnote stated that the passage was reprinted from Tuckerman’s “Thoughts on the Poets”.3
In 1859 librarian Frederick Saunders published a compilation titled “Mosaics”. Saunders placed quotation marks around the words written by Tuckerman, and he ascribed them directly to Petrarch:4
“Love,” Petrarch maintains, “is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart to life, and is prophetic of eternal good.”
In 1872 the “Treasury of Thought: Forming an Encyclopaedia of Quotations from Ancient and Modern Authors” compiled by Maturin M. Ballou contained this entry:5
Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart to life, and is prophetic of eternal good. —Petrarch
In 1895 the “Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers” compiled by Josiah H. Gilbert included the same entry with an attribution to Petrarch.6
In 1911 “The Book of Love” compiled by Jennie Day Haines included the same entry with an attribution to Petrarch.7
In 1952 a newspaper in San Bernardino, California printed the passage while crediting an ancient Greek sage instead of Petrarch:8
Love is the crowning grace of humanity, the holiest right of the soul, the golden link which binds us to duty and truth, the redeeming principle that chiefly reconciles the heart of life, and is prophetic of eternal good. —Plutarch.
In 2010 a newspaper in Waukesha, Wisconsin printed the following:9
TODAY’S INSPIRATION
“Love is the crowning grace of humanity.” —Petrarch
In conclusion, Henry Theodore Tuckerman wrote these words in 1845; hence, he deserves credit. Tuckerman was outlining the attitudes expressed in the sonnets of Petrarch. In 1859 the librarian and bookseller Frederick Saunders misread Tuckerman and assigned Tuckerman’s words to Petrarch. This mistake has proliferated during subsequent years.
Image Notes: Painting “The Fountain of Love” by François Boucher circa 1748 The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Armand D’Angour and Steven Isserlis whose messages on this topic led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. D’Angour doubted the attribution to Petrarch.
- 1845 May, The American Review: A Whig Journal of Politics, Literature, Art, and Science, Volume 1, Number 5, Petrarch by Henry T. Tuckerman, Start Page 468, Quote Page 469, Column 2, Wiley and Putnam, New York. (Google books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1848, Thoughts on the Poets by Henry T. Tuckerman (Henry Theodore Tuckerman), Third Edition, Chapter: Petrarch, Quote Page 11, C. S. Francis & Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1848, The Philosophy and Poetry of Love by George Ramsay, Section: Poetry of Love, Chapter 1, (Footnote acknowledges Tuckerman’s “Thoughts on the Poets”) Quote Page 37, New York Publishing Company, New York. (Verified with scans) link ↩︎
- 1859, Mosaics by Frederick Saunders, Chapter: Single Blessedness, Quote Page 194, Charles Scribner, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1872, Treasury of Thought: Forming an Encyclopaedia of Quotations from Ancient and Modern Authors by Maturin M. Ballou, Topic: Love, Quote Page 315, Column 1, James R. Osgood and Company, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1895 Copyright, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers: A Cyclopaedia of Quotations from the Literature of All Ages, Compiled by Josiah H. Gilbert, Topic: Love, Quote Page 392, Wilbur B. Ketcham, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1911 Copyright, The Book of Love, Compiled by Jennie Day Haines, Quote Page 20, George W. Jacobs & Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1952 October 20, The San Bernardino County Sun, Section: Editorial Page, Thoughts, Quote Page 18, Column 6, San Bernardino, California. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 2010 August 7, The Freeman, Today’s inspiration, Quote Page 8A, Column 5, Waukesha, Wisconsin. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎