Selected Letters of Alessandra Strozzi, Bilingual edition (Biblioteca Italiana): Volume 9 - Softcover

Strozzi, Alessandra; Gregory, Heather

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520203909 ISBN 13: 9780520203907

Publisher: University of California Press, 1997

Synopsis

The letters of Alessandra Strozzi provide a vivid and spirited portrayal of life in fifteenth-century Florence. Among the richest autobiographical materials to survive from the Italian Renaissance, the letters reveal a woman who fought stubbornly to preserve her family's property and position in adverse circumstances, and who was an acute observer of Medicean society. Her letters speak of political and social status, of the concept of honor, and of the harshness of life, including the plague and the loss of children. They are also a guide to Alessandra's inner life over a period of twenty-three years, revealing the pain and sorrow, and, more rarely, the joy and triumph, with which she responded to the events unfolding around her.

This edition includes translations, in full or in part, of 35 of the 73 extant letters. The selections carry forward the story of Alessandra's life and illustrate the range of attitudes, concerns, and activities which were characteristic of their author.

About this title

About the Author

Heather Gregory is Assistant Registrar in the National Office of Overseas Skills Recognition, Australian Commonwealth Government Department of Employment, Education, and Training in Canberra.

From the Back Cover

"The liveliness of Ms. Gregory's translation . . . reminds me anew what a marvelous window these letters offer into the experience of a past world."--Dale Kent, author of The Rise of the Medici

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520203909
• ISBN 13: 9780520203907
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 266