Publishing The Prince : History, Reading, and the Birth of Political Criticism

Winner of the 2005 Jacques Barzun Prize in Cultural History from the American Philosophical Society As new ideas arose during the Enlightenment, many political thinkers published their own versions of popular early modern'absolutist'texts and transformed them into manuals of political resistance. As a result, these works never achieved a fixed and stable edition. Publishing The Prince illustrates how Abraham-Nicolas Amelot de La Houssaye created the most popular late seventeenth- and eighteenth-century version of Machiavelli's masterpiece. In the process of translating, Amelot also transformed the work, altering its form and meaning, and his ideas spread through later editions. Revising the orthodox schema of the public sphere in which political authority shifted away from the crown with the rise of bourgeois civil society in the eighteenth century, Soll uses the example of Amelot to show for the first time how the public sphere in fact grew out of the learned and even royal libraries of erudite scholars and the bookshops of subversive, not-so-polite publicists of the republic of letters. Jacob Soll is Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University. Cover art courtesy of Annenberg Rare Book Room and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania Jacket Design: Stephanie Milanowski'Jacob Soll traces the origins of Enlightenment criticism to the practices of learned humanists and hard-pressed literary entrepreneurs. This learned and lively book is also a tour de force of historical research and interpretation.'---Anthony Grafton, author of Cardano's Cosmos and Bring Out Your Dead'Brilliant. How the printed page changed political philosophy into investigative reporting, and reason of state into the unmasking of power.'---J. G. A. Pocock, author of The Machiavellian Moment'Soll's path-breaking study is a'must read'for all those interested in the history of political thought and early modern intellectual history.'---Barbara Shapiro, University of California Berkeley'Soll has done [Amelot] and his context justice, writing as he does with a clear, singular, and welcome voice.'---Margaret C. Jacobs, American Historical Review Publishing The Prince Illustrates How Abraham-nicolas Amelot De La Houssaye Created The Most Popular Version Of Machiavelli's The Prince Of The Late Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries. In Translating, Amelot Also Transformed, Altering The Form And Meaning Through His Prefaces And Commentaries, While Marketing To A General Audience. His Translations Were Then Translated Into Other Languages, And His Ideas Spread. Revising The Orthodox Schema Of The Public Sphere In Which Political Authority Shifted Away From The Crown With The Rise Of Bourgeois Civil Society In The Eighteenth Century, Soll Uses The Example Of Amelot To Show That The Very Sphere Of Political Criticism And The Terms Of Public Debate Were Absolutist Creations, Which Were In Turn Appropriated By Critics Of The Crown.--jacket. Political Theory As Textual Criticism -- How To Teach Kings To Read History : Humanist Culture And The Disenchantment Of Absolutist Power -- Political Power In The Archives : From Reason Of State To Critical History -- In The Workshop Of Politics : Amelot De La Houssaye And The Methods Of Unmasking Venice -- How To Read A Subversive : Decoding Reason Of State Of The Self -- The Machiavellian Reformation : Critical Technologies Of Reading And The Culture Of Personal Prudence -- An Enlightened Prince Reads Machiavelli, And A Philosophe Publishes The Prince. Jacob Soll. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 177-195) And Index. Catalog Of Works By Abraham-nicolas Amelot De La Houssaye: P. 171-175. Jacob Soll traces the origins of Enlightenment criticism to the practices of learned humanists and hard-pressed literary entrepreneurs. This learned and lively book is also a tour de force of historical research and interpretation. --Anthony Grafton, author of Cardano's Cosmos and Bring Out Your Dead "Brilliant. How the printed page changed political philosophy into investigative reporting, and reason of state into the unmasking of power."--J.G.A. Pocock, author of The Machiavellian Moment Revising the orthodox schema of the public sphere in which political authority shifted away from the crown with the rise of bourgeois civil society in the eighteenth century, Soll shows for the first time how the public sphere in fact grew out of the learned and even royal libraries of erudite scholars and the bookshops of subversive, not-so-polite publicists of the republic of letters. Jacob Soll is Associate Professor of History at Rutgers University Contents......Page 14 List of Illustrations......Page 15 1. Political Theory as Textual Criticism......Page 16 2. How to Teach Kings to Read History: Humanist Culture and the Disenchantment of Absolutist Power......Page 37 3. Political Power in the Archives: From Reason of State to Critical History......Page 56 4. In the Workshop of Politics: Amelot de La Houssaye and the Methods of Unmasking Venice......Page 74 5. How to Read a Subversive: Decoding Reason of State of the Self......Page 87 6. The Machiavellian Reformation: Critical Technologies of Reading and the Culture of Personal Prudence......Page 104 7. An Enlightened Prince Reads Machiavelli, and a Philosophe Publishes The Prince......Page 130 Notes......Page 144 Catalog of Works by Abraham-Nicolas Amelot de La Houssaye......Page 186 Bibliography......Page 192 Index......Page 212