Vittore Branca, ed. Merchant Writers of the Italian Renaissance from Boccaccio to Machiavelli.

Trans. Martha Baca. New York: Marsilio Publishers, 1999.

Vittore Branca has been publishing on the mercantile culture of Florence for over half a century. Although he is best known in the United States for his work on Boccaccio, his anthology of ricordi by Florentine merchants appeared in Italian in 1986. What now comes to us in English is not simply a translation but a revised and abbreviated version of that anthology. Although the English text nowhere indicates or explains these changes, a comparison of the two titles provides some clues. Branca's subtitle had been: Ricordi nella Firenze tra medioevo e rinascirnento, and had gone on to list the merchant writers of these ricordi. Since these names are largely unknown to American students--obviously the audience aimed at by this translation--, Baca has dropped the word ricordi and added in the well-known names of Boccaccio and Machiavelli. In order to include these writers, she has also broadened the genre of texts in the anthology to include two stories from the Decameron and one letter apiece from Boccaccio and Machiavelli. A very interesting "brief account" by Lorenzo de' Medici, while not highlighted in the title, is added as well. The introduction has also been slightly rewritten (by Branca or by Baca?) to incorporate these changes. The same ricordi writers appear, but in some cases (e.g., Paolo da Certaldo and Giovanni di Pagolo Morelli) the selection from their writings has been considerably reduced.The nearly 580 pages of the Italian anthology (excluding the introduction) have been cut to 110, not counting the newly added materials. It would have been nice to find some foreward by the translator pointing out these differences and explaining the criteria of selection. The English volume has, reasonably enough, dropped the index of names and reduced the bibliography to focus primarily, though not enfnely, on work available in English. Notes on the original manuscripts have also been cut, replaced by a list of where one can find these texts printed in Italian. It is worth observing that some of the selections have been published only in Branca's anthology.

Branca's introduction of nearly fifty pages provides an overview of the merchant culture and the kinds of texts it produced. Although the English title says "Italian," the focus of the volume, as before, is Florentine, and most of the entries come from the fourteenth century. The two Decameron tales are II.5 (Andreuceio) and II.9 (Bernabo, Ambrogiuolo, and Zinevra); the merchant characters, it is true, are from Perugia and Genoa, but the provenance of these tales remains Florence. Boccaccio's letter to Francesco Nelli harshly criticizing the behavior of Niccolo Acciaiuoli comes with an introductory note concerning the people and circumstances. Footnotes fill in needed information for other selections. Shifting the order from Branca's volume, Baca follows Boccaccio's texts with two passages from Domenico Lenzi il Biadaiolo: contrasting the Sienese and Florentine treatment of the poor during a famine, and describing the government's torture of grain dealers.Then come bits of advice from Paolo da Certaldo--Boccaccio's personal acquaintance, biographical sketches and advice from Giovanni di Pagolo Morelli, including soulful reflections on relations with his son, anecdotes by Bonaccorso Pitti from his travels to the courts of Europe, family history by Donato Velluti, business problems of Goro Dati, Francesco Datini's attempt in his will to leave money for a home for the poor but to keep it emphatically from falling into the clutches of the church, and a few brief notes by Lapo di Giovanni Niccolini de' Sirigatti about inter-family feuding and squandered inheritence. Moving into the fifteenth century, we fred two selections from Machiavelli's father, one about how to handle the case of a servant who claims to have been made pregnant by a member of the Machiavelli family, the other about Niccolb's schooling and the binding of books. Lorenzo de' Medici's summary of family history, offering an admiring tribute to his grandfather, pays special attention to the documents in the family's possession: accounts, wills, letters patent, which back up family claims about property, financial arrangements, and the family coat of arms. The book ends with Niccolo Machiavelli's famous letter to Vettori, describing his life in exile and asking for advice about the dedication of The Prince.

The English text is clear, readable, and lively. The translation is generally accurate but takes some small editorial liberties, which may be more or less relevant. For example, in Morelli's description of the Mugello, his opening claim that it is "il piu bello paese che abbia il nostro contado" as affirmed by "nostri cittadini" becomes the impersonai "most beautiful place in the Tuscan countryside" as affirmed by "the citizens of Florence." Morelli then declares twice that he will divide his material into three parts; Baca leaves out the number three and simply refers to "the main points" and "the following sections." I mind the first example (the loss of "our") more than the second, but I don't understand the reason for either of them. Other readers may make their own judgment as to how much such details matter.

These texts certainly offer intriguing glimpses of different aspects of the culture: the importance of family, the intertwining of personal, financial, and historical events, the violence of dally life, the negotiated relationships of Florentine merchants with each other and with nobility abroad. The collection, or items from it, will thus appeal to students and be welcome to professors of Renaissance history and of Italian culture.

JANET LEVARIE SMARR 

University of CaliforniaeSan Diego