Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
For nineteenth-century Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt, the Italian Renaissance was nothing less than the beginning of the modern world - a world in which flourishing individualism and the competition for fame radically transformed science, the arts, and politics. In this landmark work he depicts the Italian city-states of Florence, Venice and Rome as providing the seeds of a new form of society, and traces the rise of the creative individual, from Dante to Michelangelo. A fascinating description of an era of cultural transition, this nineteenth-century masterpiece was to become the most influential interpretation of the Italian Renaissance, and anticipated ideas such as Nietzsche's concept of the 'Ubermensch' in its portrayal of an age of genius.
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Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Burckhardt great, but DO NOT BUY THIS EDITION October 21, 2008
Hilary S. Ayers (South Bend, IN)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Burckhardt's work is a classic and is well worth the read. However, this edition by BiblioBazaar is horrible. Let me explain: br / br /What the publisher did is take a translation that is so old that it is no longer copyrighted. It then scanned the translation into a computer. However, no one at the publishing house even bothered to check the proof before printing. A number of words are misspelled. Often you can discern what word the scanner mis-read; other times the spelling is a bunch of unintelligible symbols. At one point (I believe it is in section 3) the same few pages are printed twice and some section of unknown length is omitted. Finally, BiblioBazaar doesn't even bother to give you a place of publication. br / br /If BiblioBazaar were charging $3 or $4 for this edition, I might excuse the fact that they didn't even read the proofs once. However, $20 for a book that cost them nothing to produce other than the paper it is printed on is absurd. In my opinion, Amazon shouldn't even carry this edition. Buy Burckhardt, but buy it from a reputable publishing house.
Will be seeking a refund -- typos on every page September 3, 2008
gojefferson (Atlanta, GA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This review is of the edition of The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy published by BiblioBazaar. This edition should be recalled by the publisher: there are typo's on every page, making it nearly unreadable. I attempted to continue reading the book (which is of course a classic) but was too annoyed with trying to figure out what certain jumbled characters meant. br / br /I think BiblioBazaar must has scanned the text of an old edition of the book whose copyright had expired, but then never bothered to proofread the finished product. Very bad business. Save your money and get an edition by a reputable publisher.
Brilliant book, awful edition March 15, 2008
R. Henderson (Silver Spring, MD United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Burckhardt's brilliance is undeniable. His erudition is obvious and his synthesis of numerous themes and what would now be deemed separate academic disciplines is magnificent. The edition, however, was awful. Individual pages had literally dozens of typos and an entire half a chapter was printed twice. While I would gladly recommend the work, I strongly suggest finding another edition.
 Great Essay Slopppy Edition December 24, 2007
Edward Calamia (Bronx, NY)
This is an excellent essay, even for those who did not know they cared about the Renaissance. br / br / My primary motive for purchasing this book was the fact that it had influenced Nietzsche; however, this book has much independent merit, whether you love hate or don't care about Nietzsche, there will be something here for you. br / br / Burckhardt does a great job of capturing the amoral ethos of the time on its own terms; not judging it from the position of some imagined superiority. He is obviously well-versed in the relevant literature, and the translation does not seem to obscure him. br / br / This particular edition does have numerous typographical errors, which can be somewhat distracting as one reads.
synthesis of an era October 30, 2007
Jacek Koba (Warsaw, Poland)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (Modern Library Classics)The Civilization offers a handy checklist for anyone wishing to delve deeper into the Medieval and Renaissance studies. The somewhat tortuous introduction which outlines the political turmoil in 15th century Italy adds weight to the two conclusions which Burckhardt makes towards the end: the Reformation had galvanized the Vatican into action and helped, inadvertently, the Catholic church to regain ground, and, secondly, a combination of a fragmented national identity, secularization and reliance on cunning and talent prompted the rise of the individual. br / br /Burckhardt then proceeds to chart out the different trends, fashions, and cultural shifts which made the Renaissance: revival of the interest in antiquity, search for classical manuscripts, studies in classical Latin, rediscovery of ancient literary forms, creation of libraries, patronage of the arts, exaltation of man in painting, dress and literature, interest in the human body, the opening up to the world - in short humanism. br / br /In his account of life in the Renaissance Burckhardt notes how laughter insinuated itself into artistic expression as a form of protest against dogma and despotism. Where its impact was felt most was in the celebration of religious festivals. Ridicule and paganism were never deep under the surface in miracle plays and pageants. br / br /After examining the Italian Renaissance man's values and finding that honour had supplanted guilt, Burckhardt takes a closer look at religion. Inevitably there is reference to the medieval worship of relics, simony, sale of indulgences, moral corruption in the Church from top to bottom, but also an equally bitter treatment of the things which replaced, or rather reinforced, them: preachers of repentance, adoration of the Madonna, persecution of heretics and in particular the Epicureans. Added to the mix was superstition, which does not strike a student of the Renaissance as particularly modern but with which the ancients would certainly have been at home. br / br /This paradigm shift which touched the lives of many men in the 14th and 15th century left many men adrift, spiritually and intellectually. Along with the unquestionable achievements in all areas of life which were ushered in by the Renaissance, Burckhardt observes, the age was marked by a steady slide towards fatalism and skepticism. Welcome to modern times! br /
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