Description
Book SynopsisAlvise Cornaro (c.1484–1566) was the son of a Paduan innkeeper with presumed ties to the patrician Cornaro family of Venice. Highly ambitious, he acquired a name for himself as a businessman, architect, and patron of the arts. Critically ill around age 40 – likely with diabetes and gout – he resolved to abandon his intemperate lifestyle. The strict rules regarding food and drink that he adopted and which led to his recovery are outlined in his most famous treatise, the Vita Sobria (1558). The work, which featured prescriptions for living to 100 years – stressing healthy lifestyle, proper diet, and avoidance of excess –became an international success.
This edition offers the most comprehensive and faithful version of this early modern classic ever available in English, and includes Cornaro’s Aggionta (“Addition”), translated here for the first time. An introductory essay by the late Marisa Milani offers biographi
Trade Review
'The volume provides a useful service by making these materials available in English.' -- Linda L. Carroll Renaissance Quarterly vol 68:04:2015
Table of Contents
Notes on the Translation 'Introduction' by Marisa Milani Letter to Bishop Musso by Bernardino Tomitano Cornaro's Treatise on the Sober Life Addition to the Sober Life Brief Compendium Letter to Daniele Barbaro Loving Exhortation Glossary Notes to Cornaro (pp.1-64) Eulogy Sperone Speroni: Letter Against Sobriety Sperone Speroni: Letter In Favour of the Sober Life Selected Letters Letter by Alvise Giacomo Cornaro Piscopia Notes on the Texts (pp. 81-127) Essay by Marisa Milani: 'How to Attain Immortality Living One Hundred Years, Or the Fortune of the Vita Sobria in the Anglo-Saxon World' Notes to Essay 'Immortality...' Bibliography
