By Marcus Tullius Cicero, one of the most significant Latin prose writers, over 900 letters have been preserved in addition to his speeches, rhetorical works, and philosophical writings. These letters were collected and transmitted by Cicero's secretary Tiro. Long lost, they were rediscovered in the 14th century by the Italian humanist Francesco Petrarca. This corpus of letters has been divided into four collections: letters to the publisher Atticus in 16 books, to his brother Quintus in 3 books, to his friend Brutus in 2 books, and to other close associates in 16 books. While the letters exhibit the same beautiful language as Cicero's other works, they also reveal the human, imperfect side of the statesman, who is regarded as a homo novus, since they are genuine correspondence rather than polished versions or artistic letters.