This extraordinary work presents every known document concerning Raphael during a period of 120 years, from his birth in 1483 to 1602. The chronologically organized collection includes some 1,100 documents, many of which are newly discovered or little known, concerning the artist, his work, writings, family, properties, and other matters. The handsome two-volume set is an invaluable resource for art historians and historians of the Renaissance. Each document is included in transcription, in most cases made afresh from the original, and translations are provided for literary Latin and Greek. For each entry John Shearman provides commentary as well as a critical history and bibliography. In addition he offers an overall introduction that deals with the nature of documentary research, its limitations and possibilities, and the history of facsimiles and forgeries. Three useful indexes complete the two volumes.