An introduction to one of the premier humanists of the Italian Renaissance, whose extraordinary work in biography, politics, religion, and philosophy has been largely unknown to Anglophone readers. A celebrated orator, historian, philosopher, and statesman, Giannozzo Manetti (1396–1459) was one of the most remarkable figures of the Italian Renaissance. The son of a wealthy Florentine merchant, he was active in the public life of the Florentine republic and embraced the new humanist scholarship of the Quattrocento. Among his many contributions, Manetti translated from classical Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, bringing attention to great works of the ancient world that were previously unknown. He also offered a humanist alternative to the Vulgate Bible by translating into Latin the Greek text of the New Testament and the Hebrew Psalms. His other works included biographies of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio; A Translator’s Defense, an indispensable treatise on the art of translation; and Against the Jews and the Gentiles, an apologia for Christianity. Manetti is most remembered for his treatise On Human Worth and Excellence, a radical defense of human nature and of the new world view of Renaissance humanism. In this authoritative biography, the first ever in English, David Marsh guides readers through the vast range of Manetti’s writings, which, despite growing scholarly interest, are still largely unfamiliar to the English-speaking world. Marsh’s fresh appraisal makes clear why Manetti must be considered among the great expositors of the spirit of his age.

In Giannozzo Manetti’s New Testament Annet den Haan analyses the Latin translation of the Greek New Testament made by the fifteenth-century humanist Giannozzo Manetti (1396-1459). The book includes the first edition of Manetti’s text. Manetti’s translation was the first since Jerome’s Vulgate, and it predates Erasmus’ Novum Instrumentum by half a century. Written at the Vatican court in the 1450s, it is a unique example of humanist philology applied to the sacred text in the pre-Reformation era. Den Haan argues that Manetti’s translation was influenced by Valla’s Annotationes, and compares Manetti’s translation method with his treatise on correct translation, Apologeticus (1458).

In On Human Worth and Excellence, celebrated diplomat, historian, philosopher, and scholar Giannozzo Manetti (1396-1459) asks: what are the moral, intellectual, and spiritual capabilities of the unique amalgam of body and soul that constitutes human nature? This I Tatti edition contains the first complete translation into English.

An introduction to one of the premier humanists of the Italian Renaissance, whose extraordinary work in biography, politics, religion, and philosophy has been largely unknown to Anglophone readers. A celebrated orator, historian, philosopher, and statesman, Giannozzo Manetti (1396–1459) was one of the most remarkable figures of the Italian Renaissance. The son of a wealthy Florentine merchant, he was active in the public life of the Florentine republic and embraced the new humanist scholarship of the Quattrocento. Among his many contributions, Manetti translated from classical Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, bringing attention to great works of the ancient world that were previously unknown. He also offered a humanist alternative to the Vulgate Bible by translating into Latin the Greek text of the New Testament and the Hebrew Psalms. His other works included biographies of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio; A Translator’s Defense, an indispensable treatise on the art of translation; and Against the Jews and the Gentiles, an apologia for Christianity. Manetti is most remembered for his treatise On Human Worth and Excellence, a radical defense of human nature and of the new world view of Renaissance humanism. In this authoritative biography, the first ever in English, David Marsh guides readers through the vast range of Manetti’s writings, which, despite growing scholarly interest, are still largely unfamiliar to the English-speaking world. Marsh’s fresh appraisal makes clear why Manetti must be considered among the great expositors of the spirit of his age.

Publisher Description

Giannozzo Manetti's Apologeticus was a defense of the study of Hebrew and of the need for a new translation. It constituted the most extensive treatise on the art of translation of the Renaissance. This ITRL edition contains the first complete translation of the work into English.

On a crisp winter’s day in Glenwood Canyon, Colorado, Art Daily suffered a terrible tragedy. While driving home with his family from a youth hockey game, a large boulder dislodged from the canyon wall and struck their car, killing his wife and two sons–while leaving him inexplicably untouched. In one instant, Art’s entire life crumbled, leaving him feeling utterly alone. As family, friends, and the entire Aspen community rushed in to offer comfort and support, Art faced what he imagined to be a bleak and lonely future. But what he found surprised him: the healing power of a stranger’s grace. That stranger was Allison, a twenty-eight-year-old Texan who had stopped in Aspen on her way to a new life. Allison was a woman struggling with her own grief following her older brother’s suicide and the end of her marriage. When she heard of Art’s tragedy, she felt compelled to reach out to him, a person whom she had never met but with whom she identified deeply. Art and Allison forged a close friendship, tending to each other’s wounds and eventually falling in love and starting a family. And through it all, the living memory of Art’s wife and sons guided and comforted them. Out of the Canyonis the inspiring story of how two people found the courage to move on after profound heartbreak. Art and Allison teach us that it is not only possible to live through such turmoil, but to embrace life anew. And, with humility and understanding, they offer direct insight and advice on what truly helped them deal with irreversible change and how we can do the same.