{"product_id":"the-book-of-the-courtier-isbn-9780140441925","title":"The Book of the Courtier","description":"\u003cb\u003e‘The courtier has to imbue with grace his movements, his gestures, his way of doing things and in short, his every action’\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Book of the Courtier\u003c\/i\u003e (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 discuss qualities of noble behaviour – chiefly discretion, decorum, nonchalance and gracefulness – as well as wider questions such as the duties of a good government and the true nature of love. Castiglione’s narrative power and psychological perception make this guide both an entertaining comedy of manners and a revealing window onto the ideals and preoccupations of the Italian Renaissance at the moment of its greatest splendour.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGeorge Bull’s elegant translation captures the variety of tone in Castiglione’s speakers, from comic interjections to elevated rhetoric. This edition includes an introduction examining Castiglione’s career in the courts of Urbino and Mantua, a list of the historical characters he portrays and further reading.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eBaldesar Castiglione\u003c\/b\u003e was born in 1478, a member of an ancient Italian aristocratic family.  He received a thorough humanistic education, acquiring a refined appreciation of art.  He was essentially a courtier, and his literary activities were spare-time occupations.  In 1504, after an unhappy period in Mantuan employ, he entered the service of Guidobaldo of Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino.  The ensuing years were the most satisfying of his life.  He enjoyed the confidence of the Duke, who frequently entrusted him with important missions, and in his leisure moments he participated in the literary and intellectual activities of the court, then one of the most brilliant in Italy.\u003cp\u003eAfter Guidobaldo's death in 1508, he remained in the service of the new Duke, Francesco Maria della Rovere, becoming, in 1513, resident ambassador in Rome.  In 1515 the expulsion of Francesco Maria from Urbino deprived him of a job, and in the years 1516-19 he lived quietly on his estates near Mantua.  His major work is \u003cb\u003eThe Book of the Courtier\u003c\/b\u003e.  He also wrote a small number of excellent poems both in Latin and Italian.  In 1519 he returned to Rome, as Mantuan ambassador, and after further activities on behalf of his Mantuan masters entered Papal service in 1524.  From that date until his death in 1592 he was Papal Nuncio in Spain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeorge Bull\u003c\/b\u003e is an author and journalist who has translated six volumes for the Penguin Classics: Benvenuto Cellini’s \u003cb\u003eAutobiography\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eThe Book of the Courtier\u003c\/b\u003e by Castiglione, Vasari’s \u003cb\u003eLives of the Artists \u003c\/b\u003e(two volumes), \u003cb\u003eThe Prince \u003c\/b\u003eby Machiavelli and Pietro Aretino’s \u003cb\u003eSelected Letters\u003c\/b\u003e. He is also Consultant Editor to the Penguin Business Series. After reading history at Brasenose College, Oxford, George Bull worked for the \u003cb\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/b\u003e, McGraw-Hill World News, and for the \u003cb\u003eDirector \u003c\/b\u003emagazine, of which he was Editor-in-Chief until 1984. His other books include \u003cb\u003eVatican Politics\u003c\/b\u003e; \u003cb\u003eBid for Power\u003c\/b\u003e (with Anthony Vice), a history of take-over bids; \u003cb\u003eRenaissance Italy\u003c\/b\u003e, a book for children; \u003cb\u003eVenice: The Most Triumphant City\u003c\/b\u003e; and \u003cb\u003eInside the Vatican\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeorge Bull\u003c\/b\u003e is an author and journalist who has translated six volumes for the Penguin Classics: Benvenuto Cellini’s \u003cb\u003eAutobiography\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eThe Book of the Courtier\u003c\/b\u003e by Castiglione, Vasari’s \u003cb\u003eLives of the Artists \u003c\/b\u003e(two volumes), \u003cb\u003eThe Prince \u003c\/b\u003eby Machiavelli and Pietro Aretino’s \u003cb\u003eSelected Letters\u003c\/b\u003e. He is also Consultant Editor to the Penguin Business Series. After reading history at Brasenose College, Oxford, George Bull worked for the \u003cb\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/b\u003e, McGraw-Hill World News, and for the \u003cb\u003eDirector \u003c\/b\u003emagazine, of which he was Editor-in-Chief until 1984. His other books include \u003cb\u003eVatican Politics\u003c\/b\u003e; \u003cb\u003eBid for Power\u003c\/b\u003e (with Anthony Vice), a history of take-over bids; \u003cb\u003eRenaissance Italy\u003c\/b\u003e, a book for children; \u003cb\u003eVenice: The Most Triumphant City\u003c\/b\u003e; and \u003cb\u003eInside the Vatican\u003c\/b\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303294456037,"sku":"NP9780140441925","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780140441925.jpg?v=1767738484","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-book-of-the-courtier-isbn-9780140441925","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}