How to Achieve True Greatness

Baldassare Castiglione is chiefly known for his prose dialogues titled The Book of the Courtier, which passed through more than 40 editions in the century after its original publication in 1528. Written in Italian based on Dante's Tuscan, it helped to establish Tuscan as the national literary language. The book was celebrated throughout Europe as show more a manual of courtly manners. However, the attentive reader senses the peculiarly Italian atmosphere that envelops the four main participants in the dialogue as they avoid talking of the political realities that had prompted Machiavelli to write The Prince just a few years before. (Bowker Author Biography) show less