by constitutional limitations . . . His ideal government was the old Roman republic, and he constantly harked back to it in the Discourses ” (ibid., p. 27). In short, The Prince instructs the leader how to maintain power and navigate political wrangling, but the overarching aim should be the establishment of a stable republic, with institutions and a culture which cultivates civic virtue – focusing on Machiavelli’s means should not obscure his own desired ends. The Art of War was first published in English in 1562, The History of Florence in 1595, The Discourses in 1636, and The Prince in 1640. This edition presents each work in a new translation by Henry Neville (1620–1694), an English republican politician and writer with strong Italian connections, who served as an MP in the Rump Parliament and became a thorn in Cromwell’s side. The work is notable in its attempt to rehabilitate Machiavelli from his reputation for wickedness and tyranny; alongside a favourable preface to the reader, the book includes the justificatory “Nicholas Machiavel’s Letter to Zenobius Buondelmontius, in vindication of himself and his writings”, a forgery either by the translator or by an unknown Italian. Provenance: title page verso with armorial bookplate dated 1701 of Algernon Capell, 2nd Earl of Essex (1670–1710), a Privy Counsellor under Queen Anne; front pastedown with recent bookplate of the Fox Pointe Manor library of Howard and Linda Knohl, an impressive collection assembled in Southern California which specialized in 16th- and 17th-century English books. Folio (323 × 197 mm). Contemporary mottled calf, neatly rebacked and recornered preserving fragments of original spine, recent red morocco label and endpapers to style, marbled edges. A few minor contemporary annotations. Reinforcement at endpaper extremities, title and terminal leaf a little browned, paper flaw wrinkle to 2M2, small peripheral chip (not affecting text) to Z2 and 3H2, very minor worming in gutter (not affecting text) from 2I–end. A very good, tall copy. ¶ ESTC R180243 – another issue has the imprint “Printed for John Starkey”, with no priority; Wing M128. Robert Bingham Downs, Books that Changed the World , 1956. sold [158555] 93 MATISSE, Henri. Six signed proofs of original etchings Signed limited portfolio, number 61 of 150 sets of six plates, each of which are signed, numbered, and titled by Matisse, for the first illustrated edition. The plates comprise the artist’s illustrations for the Limited Editions Club edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses , published that year. Within weeks of the lifting of the US ban on Ulysses (6 December 1933), Limited Editions Club impresario George Macy approached Joyce about a special edition of the book, and by February 1934 he was en route to Paris to speak to Matisse about illustrations. Matisse had not read the book and despite being sent a copy of the French translation by Joyce scholar Stuart Gilbert he was, according to his neighbour Dorothy Bussy ( née Strachey, sister of Lytton Strachey), “in a complete fog about it” (Goodwin, p. 91). Bussy lent Matisse a copy of Gilbert’s seminal James Joyce’s Ulysses: A Study (1930), thinking he would find it useful as a guide through the labyrinth. Matisse quickly accepted the commission, saying that he had “spent the night reading the book and had discerned how the eight episodes [although only six were illustrated] in Joyce’s Ulysses had their impulse in corresponding episodes in Homer’s Odyssey . Macy accepted the suggestion and Matisse went to work” (ibid). for Ulysses . New York: The Print Club, 1935 “homeric in mood and compositions”
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92 MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò. The Works. London: Printed for J.S. [John Starkey], to be sold by Robert Boutler, 1675 the ends justify the means First collected edition in English of Machiavelli’s works, including The Prince , the defining and best-known manual for leadership, an influence on generations of rulers, the archetype of the “ends justify the means” approach, and a refutation of centuries of Christian mirror for princes books which emphasised the primacy of truth, religion, and morality. The Prince was written in 1513, but unpublished until 1532, five years following Machiavelli’s death. The treatise established the author as “a popular symbol for the scheming, crafty, hypocritical, immoral, completely unprincipled, and unscrupulous politician whose whole philosophy is that the end justifies the means. The highest law to Machiavelli, it is universally believed, was political expediency” (Downs, p. 17). Still, the collected works illustrate a more nuanced character than the popular image, containing Machiavelli’s other, often overlooked, works: The History of Florence , The Discourse s, and The Art of War . “From a comparative reading, one must come to the startling conclusion that Machiavelli was a convinced republican. He had no liking for despotism, and considered a combination of popular and monarchical government best. No ruler was safe without the favor [ sic ] of his people. The most stable states are those ruled by princes checked
sharjah international book fair
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