Description
Book SynopsisFor five centuries, literary treasures had lain dormant in the archives of the Palazzo Tuttofare in Florence. Through a fortunate coincidence they have been recently discovered, and the present work is the result of this find. Contained herein, in fact, is the unedited correspondence – or presented as such – exchanged between Desiderius Erasmus, Thomas More, and Niccolo Machiavelli in 1517–1518. To these letters are added texts which serve, as it were, as annexes of the
Prince and of the
Utopia.Between these three illustrious writers the discussion, or the quarrel, bears chiefly on two themes: the art of governing on the one hand, and the art of writing on the other. As was to be expected, they battle over the best manner of governing: Erasmus and More on one side, Machiavelli on the other. The confrontation occurs on two terrains in particular: morality and necessity in politics, and the political forms of necessity. In the background of the quarrel is raised the problem of Christianity’s political power, perhaps that of its truth.The second theme is not unrelated to the first. Erasmus, More, and Machiavelli are accomplished writers. Each has several styles at his command, each knows and practices the resources of the art of writing, each intends to read as he should. And so in the margins of their discussion about substance, they argue about the significance of their respective works; they interpret, rightly or wrongly, the others’ manners of writing; they explain their own writing or dodge explanation, they deliver their secret or lead into error. What is at stake is the meaning of these enigmatic works, which are the
Prince (1513), the
Utopia (1516
), and, to a lesser extent, the
Praise of Folly (1511
). Any lifting of the veil necessitates a golden rule: we cannot grasp the meaning of a work unless we grasp the manner in which it was written. In the case of Erasmus, More, and Machiavelli, cunning has a role to play. The author has taken a leaf from their book. “And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,
and the violent bear it away.” – Matthew 11:12
Table of ContentsTABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue1PreliminariesSection 1. The Readers, The Readings 6Section 2. The Authors, The Strategic Context 15Section 3. The Authors, The Historical Contexts 31Section 4. The Texts, The Writing 426Book I. Morality and NecessityCh. 1. The Tender Commerce of Friendship 51Ch. 2.Ch. 3.(July 1517–March 1518) 51Institutio Tyranni 60Liber Necessitatis 85Book II. Realism and UtopiaCh. 4. Prince Atecratos’s Island 101Ch. 5. Nowhere and Elsewhere 125(April–November 1518) 101Book III. The Hidden PrinceCh. 6.Ch. 7.Ch. 8. Addenda 176(1519–1525) 149Quia Nominor Princeps (1) 149Quia Nominor Princeps (2) 168Book IV. The Registers of WritingCh. 9. The Languages of Friendship 182Ch. 10.(1535–1536) 182Apte dicere, apte tacere 201Epilogue227Appendices232Acknowledgments252Index253
