"A HATE-FUELED TIRADE AGAINST MACHIAVELLI": TOMASSO BOZIO'S ADVERSUS MACHIAVELLUM, 1596 FIRST EDITION

(MACHIAVELLI) BOZIUS, Thomas. De Antiquo et Novo Italiae Statu Libri Quatuor. Adversus Macchiavellum. Rome: Guglielmum Facciottum, 1596. Small quarto, modern full brown calf, raised bands, red morocco spine label. $1100.

First edition of this harshly critical polemic against Machiavellian theories and thought, attractively bound.

Machiavelli's The Prince, Discourses on Livy, and a majority of Machiavelli's other works were listed in Pope Paul IV's list of prohibited books in 1559. "The backlash of the Catholic Church and the Jesuits is to be expected considering Machiavelli's standing, but special mention should be given to Tommaso Bozio: a church historian who plunged into a hate-fueled tirade against Machiavelli. Point by point Bozio lambasted each idea of Machiavelli, going so far as to argue that the Earth had had no 'good rulers' before Constantine" (Frye, "A Deconstruction of 'The Discourses on Livy': A Biography of Niccolo Machiavelli and his Political Legacy," 2012). Bozio, a historian and theologian, studied in Perugia and Rome where he met San Filippo Neri. Woodcut coat of arms of Clement VIII on the title page; woodcut headpieces and initials. With license leaf at rear, dated 1594. Text in Latin. Adams B2632.

Light scattered foxing and faint dampstaining through text; spine sunned, else binding attractive and fine.