Leon Battista Alberti

Writer and Humanist

Martin McLaughlin

$59.99

Hardback

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English

Princeton University Pres
01 November 2024

History of Art & Design Styles; History of architecture; Biography; Literary studies: general; European history; Early modern history: c 1450 to c 1700

The first book in English to examine Leon Battista Alberti's major literary works in Latin and Italian, which are often overshadowed by his achievements in architecture.

Leon Battista Alberti (14041472) was one of the most prolific and original writers of the Italian Renaissance-a fact often eclipsed by his more celebrated achievements as an art theorist and architect, and by Jacob Burckhardt's mythologizing of Alberti as a ""Renaissance or Universal Man."" In this book, Martin McLaughlin counters this partial perspective on Alberti, considering him more broadly as a writer dedicated to literature and humanism, a major protagonist and experimentalist in the literary scene of early Renaissance Italy. McLaughlin, a noted authority on Alberti, examines all of Alberti's major works in Latin and the Italian vernacular and analyzes his vast knowledge of classical texts and culture.

McLaughlin begins with what we know of Alberti's life, comparing the facts laid out in Alberti's autobiography with the myth created in the nineteenth century by Burckhardt, before moving on to his extraordinarily wide knowledge of classical texts. He then turns to Alberti's works, tracing his development as a writer through texts that range from an early comedy in Latin successfully passed off as the work of a fictitious ancient author to later philosophical dialogues written in the Italian vernacular (a revolutionary choice at the time); humorous works in Latin, including the first novel in that language since antiquity; and the famous treatises on painting and architecture. McLaughlin also examines the astonishing range of Alberti's ancient sources and how this reading influenced his writing; what the humanist read, he argues, often explains what he wrote, and what he wrote reflected his relentless industry and pursuit of originality.

'A fascinating and fitting monument to one of the Renaissance's most formidable literary minds.'

Alexander Lee, Literary Review

'[A] scholarly study...

McLaughlin knows his subject inside and out.'

Publishers Weekly

'A comprehensive view of the humanist's literary output.'

Suzanna Murawski, New Criterion

By: Martin McLaughlin
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 140mm,
ISBN: 9780691174723
ISBN 10: 0691174725
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 01 November 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Martin McLaughlin was Agnelli-Serena Professor of Italian at the University of Oxford from 2001 to 2017 and is now an emeritus fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He is the author of Literary Imitation in the Italian Renaissance and Italo Calvino. He has translated Italo Calvino: Letters 19411985 (Princeton), Calvino's Why Read the Classics? and Leon Battista Alberti's Biographical and Autobiographical Writings.

Reviews for Leon Battista Alberti: Writer and Humanist

""A fascinating and fitting monument to one of the Renaissance’s most formidable literary minds.""---Alexander Lee, Literary Review ""[A] scholarly study. . . . McLaughlin knows his subject inside and out."" * Publishers Weekly * ""A comprehensive view of the humanist’s literary output.""---Suzanna Murawski, New Criterion ""A genuinely awe-inspiring piece of scholarship and research.""---Terry Potter, The Letterpress Project ""[A] learned, lucid book. . . . McLaughlin has set out to show what sort of writer Alberti was, and the results are impressive.""---Anthony Grafton, London Review of Books ""Martin McLaughlin’s. . . . scholarly yet lucid writing makes plain just how original and individual a figure [Alberti] was, and how so much of his work deserves to be rescued from obscurity. In many ways he comes closer than most scholars to Alberti, who, one feels, would have gratefully recognized in him a fellow spirit.""---Peter Hainsworth, Times Literary Supplement ""Thorough and clearly authoritative, [this book] traverses all that is already known about [Alberti’s] literary works, but perhaps more importantly, it also addresses the writer’s wide knowledge of classical texts, as well as his later philosophical dialogue."" * David Marx Book Reviews * ""McLaughlin’s book is an exceptionally thorough contribution on Alberti’s prose production, based on systematic analysis of archival sources, knowledge of existing studies, and outstanding sensitivity to Alberti’s stylistic choices.""---Maria Sole Costanzo, Renaissance Quarterly