Machiavelli & the Renaissance

The following list does not purport to be a complete bibliography even of the most recent studies of the Renaissance. It should be regarded, more simply, as a preliminary, short guide firstly to the discussions that have taken place in recent decades about the actual concept and the so-called 'problem' of the Renaissance, and secondly to the multifarious writings and researches specifically devoted to the latter's most noteworthy aspects.

I would, however, warn the reader that, just as the theme of the preceding essay is the Renaissance as manifested in the country of its origin, so too this bibliography is confined to works and discussions on the subject of Italian Humanism and the Italian Renaissance, except in certain cases where the very nature of the discussion calls for an appraisal of non- Italian problems and trends of thought.

The history of the concept of the Renaissance, of its formation and its evolution under the influence of successive schools of thought, has been the subject of particularly intensive study during the first half of the present century. Indeed, it forms an important chapter of historiography, one that is to-day of vital interest to all who propose to make a special study of this or that aspect of the Renaissance.

The question was first examined by German scholars in the following essays: W. GOETZ, "Mittelalter und Renaissance", 'Historische Zeitschrift', XCVIII ( 1907), reproduced in Italien im Mittelalter, Leipzig, 1942, II; K. BRANDI, DasWerden der Renaissance

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