The Book of the Courtier

Baldassare Castiglione

Courier Corporation, Jan 1, 2003 - History - 456 pages

An insider's view of court life and culture during the Renaissance, 'The Book of the Courtier' is the handiwork of a diplomat who was called upon to resolve the differences in a war of etiquette among the Italian nobility. Set in 1507, when Castiglione was an attaché to the Duke of Urbino, the book consists of a series of fictional conversations between members of the Duke's retinue, who discuss the virtues and conduct of the ideal courtier. Translated into many languages after its 1528 publication, it became the ultimate resource on aristocratic manners, offering sixteenth-century readers a manual on how to behave. Today, it remains the most definitive account of life among the Renaissance nobility.

Contents

• I: 1
• II: 7
• III: 73
• IV: 167
• V: 238

About the author

Baldassare Castiglione is chiefly known for his prose dialogues titled The Book of the Courtier, which passed through more than 40 editions in the century after its original publication in 1528. Written in Italian based on Dante's Tuscan, it helped to establish Tuscan as the national literary language. The book was celebrated throughout Europe as a manual of courtly manners. However, the attentive reader senses the peculiarly Italian atmosphere that envelops the four main participants in the dialogue as they avoid talking of the political realities that had prompted Machiavelli to write The Prince just a few years before.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Book of the Courtier; Dover Books on the American Indians; Dover Value Editions
• Author: Baldassare Castiglione
• Edition: illustrated, reprint, revised
• Publisher: Courier Corporation, 2003
• ISBN: 0486427021, 9780486427027
• Length: 456 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / Italy; History / Europe / Renaissance