Another treasure recently uncovered is this 1572 edition of a translation of Aristotle's "First Book of Poetics" in the Italian vernacular by Alessandro Piccolomini (1508-1578). This Sienese humanist was one of the main protagonists who contributed to the great cultural movement of Classical Humanism during the Italian Renaissance, which brought back into circulation the philosophical and literary works of the Greeks. The fact that this translation is in the vernacular testifies to the great debate over which language best suited literary works: Greek, Latin, or the vernacular (actually a form of Tuscan dialect). The vernacular eventually won out with help from defenders like Piccolomini.

Piccolomini, a member of the Sienese family that produced two popes (Pius II, 1468, and Pius III, 1503), was the president of the "Accademia degli Intronati," a sort of literary club for the aristocracy of Siena, and wrote a richly sentimental comedy, Amor costante (1536), and a dialogue entitled "Dialogo della creanza delle donne" (1538).