The Prince

About this book

The Prince (Italian: Il Principe [il ˈprintʃipe]; Latin: De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of The Prince is of accepting that the aims of princes – such as glory and survival – can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends. From Machiavelli's correspondence, a version appears to have been distributed in 1513, using a Latin title, De Principatibus (Of Principalities). However, the printed version was not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death. This was carried out with the permission of the Medici pope Clement VII, but "long before then, in fact since the first appearance of The Prince in manuscript, controversy had swirled about his writings". Although The Prince was written as if it were a traditional work in the mirrors for princes style, it was generally agreed as being especially innovative. This is partly because it was written in the vernacular Italian rather than Latin, a practice that had become increasingly popular since the publication of Dante's Divine Comedy and other works of Renaissance literature.

Themes & subjects

About the author

Niccolò Machiavelli

3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527

**Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli**-Italian diplomat, writer and political philosopher was born in Florence, Italy, on May 3, 1469 to the parentage of Bernardo Machiavelli and Bartolomea Nelli. In 1502 Machiavelli married Marietta Corsini, who bore him four sons and two daughters. His grandson, Giovanni Ricci, is credited with saving many of Machiavelli's letters and writings. He died in the city on June 21, 1527. His tomb is in the church of Santa Croce in Florence. (Sources: The Historical, Political, and Diplomatic Writings of Niccolò Machiavelli by Christian E. Detmold, Encyclopedia of World Biography, Biography.com, Wikipedia)