Machiavelli and His Friends: Their Personal Correspondence
The intimate world of Niccolò Machiavelli comes to life in this first complete collection in English of the letters he wrote and received. Spanning his adult life from 1497 until his death in 1527, these letters to and from his friends and compatriots—some of whom, such as Francesco Guicciardini and Francesco Vettori, were among the most influential thinkers of the day—reveal his personality and present a panorama of life, people, and critical events in Renaissance Italy.\ The correspondence...
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The intimate world of Niccolo Machiavelli comes to life in this first complete collection in English of the letters he wrote and received. Spanning his adult life from 1497 until his death in 1527, these letters to and from his friends and compatriots - some of whom, such as Francesco Guicciardini and Francesco Vettori, were among the most influential thinkers of the day - reveal his personality and present a panorama of life, people, and critical events in Renaissance Italy. The correspondence offers valuable insight into the origins of Machiavelli's ideas on history, politics, literature, and society and the social context from which his achievements arose. Often his correspondence served as a testing ground for ideas he developed more fully in his writing. While the letters taken together show Machiavelli both living within and transcending his own time, on a more intimate level they reveal the human element that helped to shape his thought. Machiavelli emerges as an individual with multifaceted capabilities and a multitude of roles, among them devoted humanist, political analyst, shrewd rhetorician, and practical joker.Library JournalSpecialists in several facets of Renaissance culture will welcome this translation of the letters of the man hailed as the first modern political theorist. The text, and to a great extent the notes, rest on Volume 3 of Franco Gaeta's Opere di Niccolo Machiavelli (1984). Their contents overwhelmingly deal with the political machinations of the Italian city-states and the jockeyings of France, Spain, England, the German empire, and the Swiss for power in Italy. The letters offer some insight into Machiavelli's familial and extramarital relationships, his business dealings, and his experience of country life. In a general introduction, the editors, who are also the translators (other works include The Comedies of Machiavelli, Univ. Pr. of New England, 1985), discuss Machiavelli as a linguist, storyteller, and stylist. The felicitous translation of the 335 letters (plus eight that cannot be precisely dated), many to his good friend Francesco Vettori, Florentine ambassador to Rome, reveal echoes of The Prince. For academic collections.-Bennett D. Hill, Georgetown Univ.
Table of Contents\ Preface Introduction\ Letters\ 1497-1498\ 1499\ 1500\ 1501\ 1502\ 1503\ 1504-1505\ 1506\ 1507-1508\ 1509\ 1510-1512\ 1513\ 1514\ 1515-1519\ 1520\ 1521\ 1522-1524\ 1525\ 1526\ 1527\ Appendix Notes Abbreviations Works Cited List of Correspondence Subject Index
\ From the Publisher"A labor of love.... These letters are gold, the richest Machiavelli vein there is for mining the life and the ideas."—Colin Walters, Washington Times\ "A marvelous book that gives us, for the first time in English, all the extant personal letters that Machiavelli exchanged with his friends and associates over thirty years.... A major event."—John M. Najemy, Cornell University\ "Bravo!' to the superb edition Atkinson and Sices have produced.... Should be required reading."—Peter Bondanella, Indiana University\ \ \ \ \ \ Library JournalSpecialists in several facets of Renaissance culture will welcome this translation of the letters of the man hailed as the first modern political theorist. The text, and to a great extent the notes, rest on Volume 3 of Franco Gaeta's Opere di Niccolo Machiavelli (1984). Their contents overwhelmingly deal with the political machinations of the Italian city-states and the jockeyings of France, Spain, England, the German empire, and the Swiss for power in Italy. The letters offer some insight into Machiavelli's familial and extramarital relationships, his business dealings, and his experience of country life. In a general introduction, the editors, who are also the translators (other works include The Comedies of Machiavelli, Univ. Pr. of New England, 1985), discuss Machiavelli as a linguist, storyteller, and stylist. The felicitous translation of the 335 letters (plus eight that cannot be precisely dated), many to his good friend Francesco Vettori, Florentine ambassador to Rome, reveal echoes of The Prince. For academic collections.-Bennett D. Hill, Georgetown Univ.\ \ \ BooknewsPresents translations of Machiavelli's letters from 1497 through 1527. Brief headnotes for particular years discuss key events in the Renaissance thinker's life and provide a historical framework for the people and places referred to in the correspondence. The extensive footnotes are intended to elucidate material not generally known except by specialists in Renaissance Italy or the Italian language. The translations are based on the texts in the third volume of Franco Gaeta's edition of Machiavelli's works, which was prepared in 1984. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.\ \
