‎[LITTERATURE] - RIGHINI (Mariella) - ‎
‎Florentine. ‎

‎Histoire florentine de Nicolas Machiavel citoien et Secretaire de Florence. Nouvellement traduicte d'Italien en Francois, Par le Seigneur de Brinon Gentil-homme ordinaire de la chambre du Roy. - [FIRST FRENCH TRANSLATION OF MACHIAVELLI'S 'FLORENTINE HISTORIES']‎

‎Paris, Guillaume de la Noue, 1577. 8vo. In recent full limp vellum with yapp edges. Woodcut printer's device on title, woodcut headpieces and initials. Small closed tear to upper inner margin of title-page. First 33 ff. with small worm tract in inner margin, with minor loss of text. Light dampstaining to first and last leaves. A good copy. (36), 294, (6) pp. ‎

‎The exceedingly rare first French, and presumably very first overall, translation, of Machiavelli's Florentine Histories" his famous account of the political events and power struggles in Florence during the Renaissance. Essentially being a panegyric to the house of Medici, Machiavelli's work offers valuable insights into the rise and fall of political factions, the challenges faced by republican governments, and the dynamics of power in a city-state. Although often overshadowed by his more famous 'The Prince', the present work is important in understanding Machiavelli's broader political philosophy and is an indispensable document in understanding renaissance politics in general. The Histories constitute an essential work for understanding the political development of the late Machiavelli, and is “also an important item in modern historiography because for the first time the issue of conflict, and more precisely of urban conflict, finds itself at the heart of historical narrative (…).Infact, the Histories constitute the first attempt in modern historiography to analyze the totality of individual and collective agents and factors that allow a community to sustain itself or to founder. This analytical quality was certainly at the basis of the interest in the work outside Florence and the fact of its being translated. As Yves de Brinon explains in dedicating his ‘Histoire Florentine [the present work] to Cathrine de Medici, the case of Florence is a model for the dangers that threaten the integrity of every state and the Kingdom of France in Particular.” (Landi, A re-reading of Machiavelli). Machiavelli visited France, representing the Republic of Florence, where he - and later his writings - exercised great influence. The Huguenot, Innocent Gentillet, whose work commonly referred to as 'Discourse against Machiavelli' or 'Anti Machiavel', accused Machiavelli of being an atheist and accused politicians of his time by saying that his works were the ""Koran of the courtiers"", that ""he is of no reputation in the court of France which hath not Machiavel's writings at the fingers ends"" (Birely, The Counter Reformation, 1990). “Although Machiavelli became the embodiment of a real ""devil theory of history,"" there was nothing supernatural or even suspicious about his journey across the Alps. As the French translator remarked to his customers in 1544, ""This Florentine merchant has voluntarily left his own country to be received into yours.... Do not be so ungracious as to refuse him citizenship. From all appearances he was welcomed with open arms, or at least open minds. Within a few years, one of his admirers declared that he was a prophet honored more in France than in his own country."" (Kelley, Murd'rous Machiavel in France: A Post Mortem). Following the crisis of 1513, which involved arrests for conspiracy and torture, Machiavelli's relationship with the Medici family gradually improved. Despite the dedication of his book ""Il Principe"" to Lorenzo II de' Medici having little effect, Machiavelli found favor with a faction in Florence that was not opposed to him and was granted an appointment. In a letter Machiavelli expressed his dissatisfaction with his idle state and offered his valuable political experience to the new ruler. To further solidify his position, Machiavelli, adopting a somewhat courtier-like attitude, arranged for the staging of his play ""Mandragola"" at the wedding of Lorenzino de' Medici in 1518. In 1520, he received an invitation to Lucca for a semi-private mission, indicating that his ostracism was coming to an end. Later that year, Giulio Cardinal de Medici commissioned him to write a history of Florence. Although this was not exactly the role he desired, Machiavelli accepted it as the only way to regain the favor of the Medicis. The purpose of the work, although unofficial, was to restore the city's official historical standing. The salary for this appointment was not substantial, starting at 57 florins per year and later increased to 100. In May 1526, Machiavelli formally presented the finished work to Giulio de' Medici, who had become Pope Clement VII. The Pope appreciated the work and rewarded Machiavelli, though only moderately, and sought his support in creating a national army based on his theoretical work ""The Art of War,"" in preparation for the War of the League of Cognac. However, Machiavelli's hopes were shattered following the Sack of Rome in 1527 and the fall of the Medici government in Florence. Soon after, Machiavelli passed away. This exceedingly scarce first French edition was issued with two variant title-pages, the present referred to as variant-b. (see Gerber, Niccolo Machiavelli). Bibliopgraphia Machiavelliana, p. 60, no. 160. Gerber, dritter teil, p. 37, D-b. Brunet 1279.‎

‎Fasti consolari dell'accademia Fiorentina [A Biographical History of the Florentine Academy]. - Containing Viviani's ""Racconto istorico della Vita di Galileo Galilei"" [Historical Account of the Life of Galileo Galilei]. - [THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT BIOGRAPHY OF GALILEI]‎

‎Firenze, Nella Stamperia S.A.R. Per Gio: Gaetano, e Sant Franchi, 1717. 4to. Contemporary full vellum with handwritten title to spine. A bit of wear to capitals and a bit of minor soiling to boards, but a fine and handsome copy. Inner hinges a bit weak. Internally nice and clean, with just a bit of light minor occasional brownspotting. Large engraved pictorial vignette (heading: Accdemia Fiorentina) to title-page. Very nice woodcut vignettes and initials throughout. XXXI, (1), 676, (2, - Approvazioni) pp. [Viviani's Galilei-biography: pp. 397-431].‎

‎First edition of this extensive work of biographies of the people of the Florentine Academy. Among the dozens of biographies in the present work, we have the first printing of Viviani's seminal biography of Galilei, the first, and by far the most important biography of the great astronomer ever written. It is from this biography that we have most of the canonical stories and anecdotes about Galilei that keep being repeated and quoted - e.g. the legend of Galilei demonstrating to his students that Aristotle was wrong about speed of fall being related to the weight of an object by dropping balls of different mass off the leaning tower in Pisa"" the stories of how he came up with the idea of the pendulum after having watched a suspended lamp swing back and forth in the cathedral of Pisa when he was still a student there - and furthermore also how his first experiments with pendulums were carried out (by his son due to his own failing eyesight), etc., etc.Vincenzo Viviani (1622-1703) considered himself Galilei's last pupil and he spent most of his life reinstating the ideas of Galilei. He was merely 20 years old when his master died, and he was present at the bedside of the dying master as well as at the removal of his body. Thus, he was a direct witness to many of the events that took place in Galilei's life, and as such he is an indispensible biographer - especially seeing that no other person had attempted a biograhy of the great astronomer. After Galielei's death, Viviani was granted a pension by the King of France, in exchange for him writing a great, massive biography of his master. This planned massive work never came about, though, - probably due to both fear of retaliation, inabilty to reconcile geometry with the dogmas of faith, and finally a general fear of what such a biography could carry with it politically, etc. (he had apparantly also been warned of this). What we have left of the massive work is that which is present in Salvini's collection of biographies of the Florentine Academy. The work is written in the form of a letter addressed to Prince Leopoldo de'Medici, and it was not printed during Viviani's lifetime, but only in 1717, in the present book. Though not as extensive as had originally been planned, and though not printed as soon as originally planned, the work is still of the greatest importance to our knowledge about Galilei and forms the foundation for all later works on the astronomer. For the student of Galilei, it is absolutely indispensible. Being the first biography of Galilei, and the only one written by a contemporary, and one who knew him very well, the work plays a greater role in the study of the master's life than any other work.Viviani may not have been a faithful chronicler or a clear interpreter, but we will have to make do with that which he can tell us about Galilei. Though not all stories may be true, almost all of the most famous anecdotes and legends that we have about Galilei stem from the present work. After having described the various marvels, discoveries, etc. of Galilei's life, Viviani ends by describing the last hours of Galilei's life: ""il Mercoledì delli 8. de Gennaio del 1641. ab Inc. a ore 4. di notte in età di settantasette anni, mesi dieci, e giorni vent, con Filosofica, e Christiana constanza, rese l'Anima al suo Creatore, inviandosi questa a godere, e rimarar più d'apresso quelle eterne maraviglie, ch'ella con tanta avidità, & impazienza aveva procurator per mezzo di fragil artifizio d'avvicinare agli occhi di noi mortali."" (p. 423) [""On the night of Jan. 8, 1641, at about 4 o'clock at night at the age of 77 years, 10 months, and 20 days, with philosophical and Christian firmness he rendered up his soul to its Creator, sending it, as he liked to believe, to enjoy and to watch from a closer vantage point those eternal and immutable marvels which he, by means of a fragile device, had brought closer to our mortal eyes with such eagerness and impatience.""] - clearly showing the sense that Viviani had for Galilei's biblically inspired faith.The work furthermore contains several hitherto unpublished treatises on men from the famous scientific academy of Florence.‎

‎La Sculpture Florentine. Tome I : Les Prédécesseurs de l'Ecole Florentine et La Sculpture Florentine au XIVe siècle - Tome II : Première moitié di XVe siècle - Tome III : Seconde moitié du XVe siècle - Tome IV : Le XVIe siècle et les Successeurs de l'Ecole Florentine (4 volumes).‎

‎ Florence, Alinari Frères, 1897-1900, 4 volumes in-folio de 370x265 mm environ, 220, 242, 250 et viii-244 pages, cartonnage de l'éditeur avec dos toilé, plats illustrés d'une vignette. Nombreuses illustrations hors texte et dans le texte. Une illustration dans le texte absente découpée au cutter p. 169-170, avec atteinte du cutter aux 2 pages précédentes (sans manque sur ces deux dernières), dans le troisième tome, couvertures insolées et frottées, coins émoussés, ‎

‎Marcel Reymond (1849-1914), Avocat à Grenoble - Correspondant du Ministère de l'instruction publique et des beaux-arts - Membre correspondant de l'Académie des beaux-arts de Florence, Italie - Membre de l'Académie delphinale. Merci de nous contacter à l'avance si vous souhaitez consulter une référence au sein de notre librairie.‎

‎Florentine Villas in the Fifteenth-Century‎

‎Lillie, Amanda: Florentine Villas in the Fifteenth-Century. Cambridge: 2005. 352pp with 184 monochrome illustrations, 18 line diagrams and 8 tables. Cloth. Study of the architecture and patronage strategies in the Florentine countryside.‎

‎Study of the architecture and patronage strategies in the Florentine countryside. Text in English‎

‎Florentine O. Florentine A. Move toward YE. In Russian (ask us if in doubt)/Fl‎

‎Florentine O. Florentine A. Move toward YE. In Russian (ask us if in doubt)/Florenskaya O. Florenskiy A. Dvizhenie v storonu YYE.The Diaries and Archive of Professor Ivan Petrovich Barinov. St. Petersburg Mitka. 1995. 24s. We have thousands of titles and often several copies of each title may be available. Please feel free to contact us for a detailed description of the copies available. SKUalb97793ecd6eb40d80‎