74 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 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 texts which emphasized the primacy of truth, religion, and morality. The Prince was written in 1513, but unpublished until 1532, five years after Machiavelli’s death. The treatise established him 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 Discourses , 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 of his people. The most stable states are those ruled by princes checked 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, The Prince in 1640. This edition presents each work in a new translation by Henry
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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 for 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 to 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. £12,500 [158555]
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All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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