The Book of the Courtier (Norton Critical Editions) [Paperback]

Baldesar Castiglione (Author), Daniel Javitch (Editor), Charles S. Singleton (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0393976068 | ISBN-13: 978-0393976069 | Publication Date: March 2002 | Edition: New edition

The Book of the Courtier (1528) is a series of fictional conversations by courtiers of the Duke of Urbino that takes place in 1507, while Castiglione was himself attaché to the Duke.

Today the Book remains the most reliable and illuminating account of Renaissance court life and of what it took to be the "Perfect Courtier" and "Court Lady." The Singleton translation—the most acclaimed and accurate available—is accompanied by annotations. "Criticism" features ten essays on The Book of the Courtier, which represent the best interpretations from the United States, Italy, and England including the backgrounds-rich essays by Amedeo Quondam and James Hankins. A Selected Bibliography, a Chronology, and an Index are included.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Daniel Javitch is Professor of Comparative Literature at New York University. He is the author of Poetry and Courtliness in Renaissance England, Proclaiming a Classic: The Canonization of Orlando Furioso, and is at work on a book tentatively entitled Thinking About Genre in the Sixteenth Century. He has been, since 1972, a director of New Directions Publishing Corporation.

Charles S. Singleton was Professor Emeritus of Hispanic and Italian Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He also translated Boccaccio’s Decameron and Dante’s The Divine Comedy, and was awarded Italy’s Order of Commendation for his contributions to the study of Italian literature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; New edition edition (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393976068
• ISBN-13: 978-0393976069
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable and fresh-- not dry at all., February 25, 2004

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Book of the Courtier (Norton Critical Editions) (Paperback)

The Book of the Courtier is one of those books that you hear frequently cited, but rarely actually read. It seems a shame to me if it remains unread. I expected it to take me a while to wade through it. I expected it to be dense and difficult to penetrate. Instead, it read very quickly and easy. The prose was modern, lucid, and nearly compulsively readable.

The book is structured as a conversational game carried out the court of the Duke of Urbino in the rooms of his wife Elisabetta Gonzaga. In four books, different members of the court sketch out the ideal Courtier and the ideal Lady. The books treat various subjects, including the nature of grace, love, humor, gender equality, and necessary skills. The unfamiliar details of the time are mixed with the quite familiar and recognizable human foibles that are still relevant today.

Castiglione is perceptive and witty and quite loving in the way he draws the people in the book. Both the "real" people having the conversation, and the imaginary ideal people being described are well developed.

I enjoyed it, and I recommend it. You don't need to be a scholar to enjoy it as well.