Baldesar Castiglione

The Italian Renaissance man's handbook, defining the virtues essential for a man of the Court. In The Book of the Courtier (1528), Baldesar Castiglione, a diplomat and Papal Nuncio to Rome, sets out to define the essential virtues for those at Court. In a lively series of imaginary conversations between the real-life courtiers to the Duke of Urbino, his speakers...

Peter Hainsworth's sparkling, eminently readable new English translation of The Book of the Courtier, Baldesar Castiglione's (1478-1529) literary and philosophical masterpiece, captures all the nuance, stylistic flair, and humour of this foundational work of Renaissance humanism. Peter Hainsworth's fresh translation of The Book of the Courtier will gladden those who have known this quintessentially important work through the available translations...