Machiavelli : The Chief Works and Others, Vol. 1

547 Pages·1989·35.56 MB·English

by  Nicollò di Bernado dei Machiavelli

MACHIAVELLI

MACHIAVELLI
THE CHIEF WORKS AND OTHERS
ALLAN GILBERT
TRANSLATED BY
VOLUME ONE
Non in exercitu nee inrobore ...
J
Duke University Press Durham and London 1989
©I9S8,I96I,I963,I965, I989byAllanH. Gilbert
I999printing
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PaperJ-vol. set0-8223-093I-9
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME ONE
PREFACE
TheTranslation vi;
TheWorksIncluded v;;;
The NotesandIndex ;x
TEXTS USED IN TRANSLATING x·
I
A PROVISIONFORINFANTRY (aselection) :1
THEPRINCE 5
A PASTORAL:THEIDEALRULER 97
A DISCOURSE ONREMODELING THEGOVERNMENT OF
FLORENCE 101
ADVICETORAFFAELLO GIROLAMI WHENHEWENTAS
AMBASSADORTO THEEMPEROR
THE LEGATIONS (partsofdispatchesdealingwith CesareBorgia) 120
ONTHEMETHOD OFDEALING WITHTHEREBELLIOUS
PEOPLESOFTHEVALDICHIANA(aselection)
A DESCRIPTIONOFTHEMETHOD USEDBYDUKE
VALENTINOINKILLINGVITELLOZZO VITELLI,
OLIVEROTTO DAFERMO,AND OTHERS
[ATSINIGAGLIA]
ANEXHORTATIONTO PENITENCE 170
DISCOURSES ONTHEFIRSTDECADEOFTITUS LIVIUS
BOOKI
BOOK2
BOOK 3
VOLUME TWO
THE LIFE OF CASTRUCCIO CASTRACANIOF LUCCA 533
THEART OFWAR 561
vi Table ofContents
THEACCOUNT OFA VISITMADE TO FORTIFYFLORENCE:
A LETTERTO THEAMBASSADOROFTHEREPUBLICIN
ROME 727
TERCETS ONAMBITION 735
TERCETS ONINGRATITUDE ORENVY 740
TERCETS ONFORTUNE 745
THE [GOLDEN] ASS 750
MACHIAVELLI'S COMEDIES 773
MANDRAGOLA n6
CLIZIA 822
ARTICLESFORA PLEASURECOMPANY 865
BELFAGOR, THEDEVILWHO MARRIED 869
CARNIVALSONGS (fivesongs) 878
FAMILIARLETTERS (allgivenarecomplete) 883
A SONNET TO MESSERBERNARDOHIS FATHER 1012
TWO SONNETS TO GIULIANO, SON OF LORENZO
DE'MEDICI 1013
A THIRD SONNET TO GIULIANO 5
101
SERENADE 1016
VOLUME THREE Page
THEHISTORY OFFLORENCE 5
102
THE NATURES OFFLORENTINEMEN 1436
WORDS TO BE SPOKEN ON THE LAWFORAPPROPRIAT,
ING MONEY 1439
FIRST DECENNALE, tenyearsofFlorentinehistory.1494;1504 1444
SECOND DECENNALE,jiveyearsofFlorentinehistory. 1504;1509. 1457
EPIGRAM, PIERO SODERINI 1463
EPIGRAM,ARGUS, onthereleaseofFrancis1 146)
INDEX 1465
ILLUSTRA TIONS
frontispiece
Terra cotta bustofMachiavelli by an unknown artist, in the Societa Columbaria,
Florence. (Alinariphotograph)
facingpage136
San Leoin 1957
facingpagt546
Serravalle
followingpacfe726
PlattsillustratingtheARTOFWAR
facingpagt876
Theexpulsion ofthedevilfrom onepossessed
facingpage1114
Bagsfrom whichthenamesofFlorentineswhoweretoholdpublicofficeweredrawn.

PREFACE
The Translation
Thefirst duty ofatranslator ;s to bring over into his own tongue what
his author says. But this statement is deceptively simple. Shall the
rendering be free or close! Atits worst, free means a hasty paraphrase,
often perversion or absolute error. At its best,freedom exacts suchfamil~
iarity with the language ofthe text that its lesser shades ofmeaning appear
in English as idiomatic as is the original Italian. Close may be taken to
indicate a word"for"word transfer that is no language, obscuring sense and
obliterating distinction. Or close may imply such sympathy with the
great work thatitssignificanceandeven itsindividualqualitiescomeoutin the
substituted language. The best free version and the best close version
have in common ademandfor labor such that on aword or asentence the
translator may multiply the time that went into its original setting down.
To difend eitherfree or close rendering, not seldom an attempt to justify
slight effort, obscures the translator's prime duty: to do the best he canfor
his author, whetherfreely or closely.
Desiring to put bifore atwentieth"century audience precisely what was
penned more thanfour centuries earlier, the worker is now and then obliged
to ask: Can this be what Machiavelli wrote! He may curb his doubts,
contenting himself ·with what is printed in an accepted text; or he may
allowhimselftoattempttextual investigation. The ideal translatorfirst edits
the best critical text; I regret that I have not carried on such double labor.
Yet I have seen enough to conclude that, heavy as is our debt to Mazzoni
and Casella for their text of the literary and historical works (1929)'
their labors are notfinal. In some cases I have chosen tofollow thefirst
printededitions. Now andthen-and this has been more often in works not
edited by Mazzoni and Casella-I have translated what seems to be the
meaning, always with anote ofwarning.
The hope to naturalize in his own idiom the stylistie qualities and the
spirit ofagreat work is the translator's will" "the~wisp. So seldom does
0'
it happen, that the man who believes he has accomplishedit is likely to be a
victim ofself~delusion. Yet one is still in duty bound to strivefor some
shadow of the original effect. But since a translator can attain no more
than ashadow, areader's competence in aforeign language can be set low-