Excerpt from The Hand of Petrarch: And Other Stories Wealth in middle life, they were compelled, with 'the same breath, to deplore its abrupt, ineffectual end. He had chosen to hide his talent in the earth at the moment of its per fection. And that, unhappily, was long ago; for fifteen years and more this talent had proved unfruitful. In art, not to produce in cessantly is to cease to exist; and Messer Eu rico Capra, at the age of sixty-three, still vig orous, intelligent, and lovable, had become, so far as art recognized him, a creature of the past; for present shortcomings, irresistibly compared by his friends and kindred to the unprofitable servant who was cast into outer darkness at the divine command. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work.

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