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Dinner Pieces

Brief Description
An innovative collection of comedic stories by the original "Renaissance man." Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) was among the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance. His extraordinary range of abilities as a writer, architect, art theorist, and scientist made him the original model for the many-sided... Read More
Format: Hardback
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A collection of stories meant to be read while dining and drinking, the Dinner Pieces, or Intercenales, are among Alberti’s most innovative works. They constitute an important monument in the history of comic writing and cover topics from politics to the arts to love. This edition presents a new translation and an authoritative Latin text.

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An innovative collection of comedic stories by the original "Renaissance man."

Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) was among the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance. His extraordinary range of abilities as a writer, architect, art theorist, and scientist made him the original model for the many-sided "Renaissance man."

A collection of stories meant to be read while dining and drinking, the Dinner Pieces, or Intercenales, are one of Alberti's most innovative and experimental works, mixing literary genres and styles of prose composition adapted from both Greek and Latin models. They cover a wide range of topics, from moral philosophy, politics, and religion to the arts, money-making, love and friendship, and the study of the humanities. The Dinner Pieces offer satiric commentary on the cultural illusions and moral myths of Alberti's day. They cut through the absurdity of human existence with the blade of wit and laughter and constitute an important monument in the history of comic writing.

This English translation by David Marsh is based on the authoritative Latin text of Roberto Cardini, accompanied by ample notes.

Series: The I Tatti Renaissance Library

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  • Dinner Pieces
    An innovative collection of comedic stories by the original "Renaissance man." Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) was among the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance. His extraordinary range of abilities as a writer, architect, art theorist, and scientist made him the original model for the many-sided "Renaissance man." A collection of stories meant to be read while dining and drinking,...
    Hardback
    $7199
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Dinner Pieces
    An innovative collection of comedic stories by the original "Renaissance man." Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) was among the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance. His extraordinary range of abilities as a writer, architect, art theorist, and scientist made him the original model for the many-sided "Renaissance man." A collection of stories meant to be read while dining and drinking,...
    Hardback
    $7199
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Eclogues. Garden of the Hesperides
    A renowned Renaissance poet's homage to Naples makes its debut in modern English translation. Giovanni Pontano (1429–1503), whose academic name was Gioviano, was one of the great scholar-poets of the Renaissance as well as a leading statesman who served as prime minister to the Aragonese kings of southern Italy. The dominant literary figure of quattrocento Naples, Pontano produced literary works...
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  • History of the Florentine People
    Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444), the leading civic humanist of the Italian Renaissance, served as apostolic secretary to four popes (1405-1414) and chancellor of Florence (1427-1444). He was famous in his day as a translator, orator, and historian, and was the best-selling author of the fifteenth century. Bruni's History of the Florentine People in twelve books is generally considered the first modern...
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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674295759

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 17 September 2024

Country: United States

Imprint: Harvard University Press

Contributors:

  • Edited by Roberto Cardini
  • Translated by David Marsh
  • Translated by David Marsh
  • Edited by Roberto Cardini
  • Translated by David Marsh

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 133.0mm

Height: 203.0mm

Weight: 471g

Pages: 368

About the Author

Roberto Cardini is Director of the Centro di Studi sul Classicismo. David Marsh is Professor of Italian at Rutgers University and an expert on the Italian Renaissance. He has published broadly on Renaissance humanism and the classical tradition and has translated seminal texts by important early-modern authors including Petrarch, Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci, and Vico.

Also by Leon Battista Alberti

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  • Biographical and Autobiographical Writings
    A fresh English translation of five Alberti works that illuminate new aspects of the literary aims and development of the first "Renaissance man." Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) was one of the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance. His extraordinary range of abilities as a writer, architect, art theorist, and even athlete earned him the controversial title of the first...
    Hardback
    $7199
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks
  • Dinner Pieces
    An innovative collection of comedic stories by the original "Renaissance man." Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) was among the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance. His extraordinary range of abilities as a writer, architect, art theorist, and scientist made him the original model for the many-sided "Renaissance man." A collection of stories meant to be read while dining and drinking,...
    Hardback
    $7199
    Available
    Ships in 3-4 weeks

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