Un’orazione inedita di Gianfrancesco Mussato pro litteris Graecis

The article presents an edition with Italian translation and commentary of an unpublished discourse on the value of Greek letters by Gian Francesco Mussato (1533-1613). The text has been transcribed from the autograph draft preserved in ms. 619, vol. VI of the Biblioteca del Seminario vescovile of Padova. This speech was meant to be read in front of a learned Academy in Padua, as it is clear from the opening words. The author elaborates on Greek language and literature being the foundation of all disciplines, in the wake of the long tradition of the orationes pro litteris Graecis.