20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

Nicolae Mavrocordat’s notes to Niccolo MachiavelliRadu RaisaAcademy of Economic Sciences – BucharestEm. Grigoraş published, in ‟Adevărul literar şi artistic”, (the May 25,1923 issue), the article ‟Machiavelli and Mavrocordat”. So far, no referenceshad appeared, in press or books, about the volumes of Machiavelli’s Works,annotated by Nicolae Mavrocordat. Em. Grigoraş is, probably, the finderof these annotations. Afterwards, some other people wrote about the notes.“Opere di Nic. Machiavelli, Citadino e Secretario Fiorentino” enteredthe library of Nicolae Mavrocordat in 1726. The dates on some notes showus that the volumes have not been read in order. Thus, a note on the thirdvolume is dated 1727, and other note, on the second volume, is dated 1729.Analysing the handwriting and the ex-libris of the prince, Em. Grigoraşsuggests that volumes I and III were noted by the prince himself, whilevolume II was annotated by someone else. Older in 1729, the prince mighthave used the services of a secretary with a smaller handwriting, in orderto note, on a limited space, the most important reflections on Machiavelli’sworks.The three volumes of Machiavelli have been studied by NicolaeMavrocordat at the end of his life. He died one year later, in 1730. Until theissuing of these volumes, Mavrocordat read some works of Machiavelli, aswell as some other works, of other political scientists or philosophers. Basedon his reading and experience, the prince forged his own political philosophy.“The Recommendations of the Blessed Prince Nicolae Alexandru VoevodMavrocordat to His Son Constantin Nicolae Mavrocordat, before the reignof the latter, in 1725”, a short work, in manuscript, has several positive andnegative aspects concerning the art of governance.The first volume of Machiavelli’s Works has five books of the “TheFlorentine Histories”, the second one continues the “Florentine Histories”,also having “The Prince”, “The Life of Castruccio Castricani”, “The