Title Pages of Machiavellian Anthologies in the Seventeenth Century
In the following exhibit, three versions of Machiavelli’s The Prince are examined. The first is Nicholas Machiavel’s Prince: Also, The life of Caftruccio Caftracani of Lucca And The meanes Duke Valentine us’d to put to death Vitellozzo Viteti, Oliverotto of Fermo, Paul, and the Duke of Gravia. The credits the translator of the text as “E.D”. The printer is R. Bifhop, in London, in the year 1640. There are no illustrations in the text, however, the cover page is covered by two signatures which apear to spell the same name, and an annotation at the top of the page in the same script. The book is pocket sized and brown with a red band on its spine reading the abbreviated title and date. It is kept tied in a ribbon at the Fisher Rare Book library to help ensure that it will stay bound.
This publication is contrasted against two different versions of a later publication: The Works of the Famous Nicholas Machiavel, Citizen and Secretary of Florence, written originally in Italian and translated into English. The edition is printed “at the Minter in Fleetstreet,” in London, 1675. The book is kept in a box at the Fisher Rare Book library due to its fragile condition. The page is printed in various large and small fonts, and contains information on the publication house and acknowledges that the text has been translated from Italian. Beneath the title is censored text, followed by what appears to be a date: the 29th of 1675. The text may therefore potentially be an inscription from an original owner, possibly a signature. The title page is stamped by a University of Toronto libraries imprint.
The subheading is annotated in pencil, likely by a librarian at the Fisher Rare Book library, it reads: “[Probably by Henry Nelville],” an English politician and author of controversial political pamphlets which voiced a Machiavellian perspective. The annotation is an example of the influence of time on classic texts. Through successive annotations by humanists, such as in the case of the credited translator – information which may otherwise have been lost is reconnected to the text. The Prince undergoes deformation through historical study. The text becomes a collective history, it is reflective not only of the original author and time, but of a larger historical evolution of meaning.
The title page also includes one of few images in the book: a small drawing of the fleur de lis bordered by two masks. The Catholic connotation of the fleur de lis credits England’s religious roots, and therefore identifies the historic moment in which the anthology was printed. Considering that the text had been banned by the Pope and English Cardinal, the image is a promise of social change. That the print exists is proof that the rebellion against Catholic censorship, which began in independent Florence, had spread to England. The Prince was written during the age of the printing press, and accessible knowledge had an accelerating influence on ideological rebellion. Due to its creation in the age of print media, The Prince was able to survive censorship.
The third book is a separate publication of The Works of the Famous Nicholas Machiavel, Citizen and Secretary of Florence, published 5 years later in 1680. It is a rare example of the changes which a text undergoes during a short time its historic life. The second version is printed at “the Miter, the Flower-de-Luce, and the Peacock,” also on Fleetstreet, and is also an English translation.
There are fewer images in the 1680 publication than the 1675 version. However, the repeated image of a rows of crowns above various floral symbols is printed on the title page as well as on top of Niccolas Machiavel’s Letter in Vindication of his Writings. These symbols impose the symbol of the English monarchy onto The Prince, which expressed insights on monarchies thar England had previously condemned as amoral. The English emblum on Machiavelli’s works is a powerful symbol of the mingling of ideas which occurred during the seventeenth century. The time marked substantial progress in the separation of church and state, and the beginning of the end of religious censorship in Europe.
Despite its limited illustrations, the flyleaves of the book are printed from a marble pattern. The book is large, well preserved and the title on its binding is written in gold. This publication and print focused on aesthetics, which, during the time is an indication of its esteem. The Prince quickly rose from social disaffection to a popular staple of political philosophy. Today, in the Fisher Rare Book library at the University of Toronto, the book shows the careful preservation and enduring value of Machiavelli’s works. On the Treatises page is the Harvard Libraries stamp, which demonstrates the contemporary reach and value of the text. From its creation in 1680, through each generation which kept it until now: the book has been kept in pristine condition.