LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 October Rare Books & Manuscripts #675  / 

30793

Niccolo Machiavelli: Machiavels Discourses

Currency:USD Category:Books / Antiquarian & Collectible Start Price:2,250.00 USD Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Niccolo Machiavelli: Machiavels Discourses
<B>Niccolo Machiavelli: </B></I><B><I>Machiavels Discourses upon the first Decade of T. Livius translated out of the Italian</B></I></B></I> <I>With some marginall animadversions noting and taxing his errours.</B></I> <B>Translated by Edward Dacres.</B></I> (London: By Thomas Paine for William Hills and Daniel Pakeman, 1636), first English edition, 646 pages, later full calf binding with tan leather title plate affixed to the spine reading <I>MACHIAVELS DISCOURSES</B></I> in gilt, 16mo (3.75" x 6"), clear Mylar protective jacket. Machiavelli is most famous for his masterpiece of political theory, <I>The Prince,</B></I> where he espoused the notion that for a monarchical leader of a principality, " i t is best to be both feared and loved, however, if one cannot be both it is better to be feared than loved." Offered here is Machiavelli's <I>Discourses on Livy,</B></I> his seminal commentary on Titus Livy's history of Roman republicanism. <I>Discourses on Livy</B></I> became very popular after this very translation was released to the English-speaking world in 1636. In the work, Machiavelli focuses his critical eye on the structure of, warfare by, and the role of individual leadership in a modern republic, seeming to depart from many of the ideas he had expounded a few years earlier in <I>The Prince.</B></I> The copy of the 1636 first English translation presented here is in good condition, with minimal wear to the edges and spine, bumped corners, very lightly rubbed boards, and some fading and rubbing to the gilt on the title plate. The interior textblock is sound, with minor wear to the endpapers, including miniscule chipping to the first two flyleaves, spotty foxing to various pages, and modern pencil notations on the front and rear free endpapers. The book comes housed in a full leather solander box with gilt titles on the spine, gilt decoration on the boards and light cloth at the edges. Machiavelli is one of the giants of political theory, and <I>Discourses on Livy,</B></I> according to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, is more representative of Machiavelli's philosophy than even <I>The Prince.</B></I> A finer copy of the book would be very difficult to find.<BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Books & Catalogs (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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