Andrea da Grosseto

[1] Francesco Selmi, a scholar who almost by chance discovered the first manuscripts of this writer, while examining the codes of the Magliabechiana Library of Florence for a study regarding Dante Alighieri, realized the importance of the discovery and he worried about making it known to the public and other prominent literary scholars and critics.

As some codes of the Grossetan vulgarizer were damaged, he used the translation done by Soffredi del Grazia [Wikidata] in 1278, and the original Latin texts by Albertanus, kept in Turin, which could be consulted by Selmi under the supervision of Professor Gorresio, Prefect of the Library, with the permission of the Ministry of Public Education.

The importance of the discovery was immediately recognised, mainly for three particular reasons which, as Selmi specified, make the heirloom of Andrea da Grosseto the most remarkable document in literary prose in the Italian language: And so Andrea da Grosseto was the first to intend to use vernacular as a national unifying language from the North to the South of the entire Peninsula.

The hypothesis is justified by the fact that, in all the ancient codes of Dante's Comedy that are known, there is a change of the letter n for the letter r within the verbs (for example, possoro instead of possono, correct Italian word for they can), an orthographic form which had never been seen before in codes dating previously to Dante's time, except that one in the works of Andrea da Grosseto.

In 1268 Andrea da Grosseto translated the Moral Treatises of Albertanus of Brescia from Latin into the Italian vernacular.