The project aims to reconstruct the impact that the dissemination of vernacular translations of Plato had in Italy between 1540 and 1840. Focusing the inquiry on paratexts (prefaces, dedications, letters, notes, comments, marginal notes), the research aims to investigate whether and in what ways Vernacular Plato aligns with or opposes Latin Plato by Ficino. While the latter has been extensively investigated, the former has received limited attention, and is often considered more as a point of comparison for Vernacular Aristotle rather than as a subject of independent studies. By bringing to light many unpublished materials, the project aims to write a completely new chapter in the reception of Plato. In particular, it will shed new light on the centrality of the Platonic dialogue as a main form for conveying scientific contents (between 16th and 18th centuries) along with the development of a philosophical vernacular lexicon. It will dismantle the superimposition between Plato and Ficino, and thus question the Ficinian paradigm during the early modern age in Italy. To highlight the plurality of vulgarized Platos, the project will explore the environments in which they arose, their purpose, and the intended audience to which they were directed. It will portray the changing image assumed by vernacular Plato, by focusing on four different areas of the peninsula that have played a leading political and cultural role (Florence, Rome, Venice, Naples).