Abstracts.

The article presents information on several topics published in the journal "Renaissance Studies." One of the topic was "The negative dialectic of Lorenzo Valla: A study in the pathology of opposition," by W. Scott Blanchard. Two of the more controversial moments in Valla's biography are examined closely, his dismissal from his teaching position at the university of Pavia in 1433 and his examination before the Inquisition at Naples in 1444. Another topic was "Heraldry in Arcadia: the court eclogue of Johannes Opicius," by Lena Wahlgren-Smith. The article attempts to place the Dialogus of Johannes Opicius in its historical and literary setting. This part of the eclogue shows a marked influence from Virgil and Calpurnius Siculus. Opicius's choice of genre represents a conscious attempt to follow the new trends in literary Italian humanism.