Cover: The Prince, 2nd Edition by William J. Connell; Niccolo Machiavelli
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The Prince

with Related DocumentsSecond Edition ©2016 William J. Connell; Niccolo Machiavelli

Widely read for its insights into history and politics, The Prince is one of the most provocative works of the Italian Renaissance. Based on Niccolò Machiavelli’s observations of the effectiveness of both ancient and contemporary statesmen, the rules for governing set forth in his manual were...
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ISBN:9781319328405

ISBN:9781319048921

Cover: The Prince, 2nd Edition by William J. Connell; Niccolo Machiavelli

Widely read for its insights into history and politics, The Prince is one of the most provocative works of the Italian Renaissance. Based on Niccolò Machiavelli’s observations of the effectiveness of both ancient and contemporary statesmen, the rules for governing set forth in his manual were considered radical and harsh by his contemporaries and they have been thought shocking to many since then.  William J. Connell’s lucid introductory essay and translations of important related documents offer fresh insights into Machiavelli’s life, the meaning of his work, the context in which he wrote, and his book’s influence over time. Document headnotes, maps, a chronology of Machiavelli’s life and career, questions for consideration, a selected bibliography, and an index provide further pedagogical support. For this new edition, the translation has been revised from top to bottom to reflect recent advances in our knowledge of the text in the original Italian and the circumstances of its composition. 

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Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
A Note About the Text and Translation
Maps and Illustrations

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION: The Puzzle of The Prince
An Extreme Book for Extreme Times
Humanists and Heretics
Machiavelli before The Prince
Writing The Prince
Living with The Prince
Rival Readings of Machiavelli in Early Modern Europe
The Prince and the Autonomy of Politics
MAPS

PART TWO
The Prince (On Principalities)
Dedicatory Letter to Lorenzo de’ Medici the Younger
1/How many kinds of principalities there are, and by what means they are acquired
2/On hereditary principalities
3/On mixed principalities
4/Why Darius’ kingdom, which Alexander had occupied, did not rebel from Alexander’s successors after his death
5/In what manner cities or provinces are to be administered which, before they were occupied, lived by their own laws
6/One new principalities that are acquired by one’s own arms and by virtue
7/On new principalities that are acquired with the arms and fortune of others
8/On those who have achieved principalities through wicked deeds
9/On the civil principality
10/In what manner the strengths of all principalities should be measured
11/On ecclesiastical principalities
12/How many kinds of military forces there are, and concerning mercenary soldiers
13/On auxiliary troops, mixed troops, and one’s own
14/What the prince should do concerning the military
15/On those things for which men and especially princes are praised or blamed
16/On liberality and parsimony
17/On cruelty and compassion, and whether it is better to be loved than to be feared, or the contrary
18/In what manner faith should be kept by princes
19/On avoiding contempt and hatred
20/Whether fortresses and many other things made or done by princes every day to preserve their states are useful or useless
21/What the prince should do to be thought outstanding
22/On those whom princes keep in their service for secret matters
23/By what measures flatterers should be avoided
24/Why the princes of Italy have lost their kingdom
25/How much fortune is able to do in human things, and by what means she may be opposed
26/An exhortation to take charge of Italy, and to set her free from the barbarians

PART THREE
RELATED DOCUMENTS
Dedicatory Letter to Filippo St1. Niccolò Machiavelli, Caprices for Soderino, September 1506
2. Francesco Vettori, Letter to Niccolò Machiavelli, November 23, 1513
3. Niccolò Machiavelli, Letter to Francesco Vettori, December 10, 1513
4. Niccolò Machiavelli, The Thrushes, 1513
5. Riccardo Riccardi, Machiavelli’s Presentation of The Prince to Lorenzo de’ Medici, ca. 1515
6. Niccolò Guicciardini, FROM A Letter to Luigi Guicciardini, July 29, 1517
7. Early Prefaces of The Prince
     Biagio Buonaccorsi, Prefatory Letter to Pandolfo Bellacci, ca. 1516-1517
     Teofilo Mochi, Preface to a Manuscript of The Prince, ca. 1530
8. Dedicatory Letters of the First Two Printed Editions of The Prince
     Antonio Blado, rozzi, January 4, 1532
     Bernardo Giunta, Dedicatory Letter to Giovanni Gaddi, May 8, 1532
9. Agostino Nifo, FROM On Skill in Ruling, 1523
10. Giovan Battist Busini, FROM A Letter to Benedetto Varchi, January 23, 1549
12. Étienne Binet, FROM On the Health of Origen, 1629
13. Reginald Pole, FROM Apology to Charles V, 1539
14. Innocent Gentillet, FROM Discourses against Machiavelli, 1576
15. Christopher Marlowe, FROM The Jew of Malta, ca. 1590
16. Frederick the Great, FROM The Refutation of Machiavelli’s Prince, 1740
17. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, FROM On the Social Contract, After 1762
18. Benito Mussolini, A Prelude to Machiavelli, 1924
19. Antonio Gramsci, FROM Prison Notebooks, 1932-1934

APPENDIXES
A Niccolò Machiavelli Chronology (1469-1527)
Questions for Consideration
Selected Bibliography
Index

Headshot of William J. Connell

William J. Connell

William J. Connell, professor of history, holds the Joseph M. and Geraldine C. La Motta Chair in Italian Studies at Seton Hall University, where he was founding director of the Charles and Joan Alberto Italian Studies Institute.  He has also taught at Reed College and Rutgers University. A specialist in late medieval and early modern European history, his books include La città dei crucci: fazioni e clientele in uno stato repubblicano del ‘400 (editor); Society and Individual in Renaissance Florence (editor); Florentine Tuscany: Structures and Practices of Power (coeditor); Sacrilege and Redemption in Renaissance Florence (coauthor); and Anti-Italianism: Essays on a Prejudice (coeditor).  He has been a Fulbright Scholar, an I Tatti Fellow, and a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.  He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the History of Ideas, Storia e politica, and the Revista de stiinte politice si relatii internationale of the Romanian Academy.  In 2009 he was elected Corresponding Fellow of the Deputazione di Storia Patria per la Toscana.

Headshot of Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli