Clizia, which is even homelier and closer to the life of Florence than its predecessor. It contains incomparable studies of the Florentine housewife and her hus band, a grave business-like citizen, who falls into the senile folly of a base intrigue. There remains a short piece without title, the Commedia in prosa, which, if it be Machiavelli's, as internal evi dence of style sufficiently argues, might be accepted as a study for both the Clizia and the Manciragola.
The little novel of Belfagor is a good-humoured satire upon marriage, the devil being forced to admit that hell itself is pre ferable to his wife's company. The story has a mediaeval origin, and it was almost simultaneously treated in Italian by Machiavelli, Straparola and Giovanni Brevio.
In the spring of 1526 Machiavelli was em ployed by Clement VII. to inspect the fortifications of Florence. In the summer of the same year he received orders to attend Francesco Guicciardini, the pope's commissary of war in Lom bardy. Guicciardini sent him in August to Cremona, to transact business with the Venetian Provveditori. Later on in the autumn we find him once more with Guicciardini at Bologna. Thus the two great Italian historians of the 16th century, who had been friends for several years, were brought into intimacy.
After another visit to Guicciardini in the spring of 1527, Machia velli was sent by him to Civita Vecchia. But what seemed like a new diplomatic opportunity ended. He died in Florence on June 20, 1527, receiving the last offices of the Church.
In person Machiavelli was of middle height, black-haired, with rather a small head, very bright eyes and slightly aquiline nose. His thin, close lips often broke into a smile of sarcasm. His activity was almost feverish. When unemployed in work or study he was not averse to the society of boon companions, gave himself readily to transient amours, and corresponded in a tone of cynical bad taste. At the same time he lived on terms of intimacy with
worthy men. Varchi says that "in his conversation he was pleasant, obliging to his intimates, the friend of virtuous persons." The contradictions of which such a character was capable are seen in his correspondence with Vettori. It would be unfair to charge what is repulsive in their letters wholly on the habits of the times, for the published correspondence of similar men at the same epoch offers little that is so disagreeable.
AmOng the many editions of Machiavelli's works the one in 8 vols., dated Italia, 1813, may be mentioned (new ed., 1833). Also "Le pia belle pagine di Niccolo Machiavelli" in Le piii belle pagine degli scrittori
ser. vol. 24 (ed. G. Prezzolini, Milan 1925). The best biography is the standard work of P. Villari, Niccolo Machiavelli e i suoi tempi 3 vol. (Florence 1877-82. 3rd ed., 1913-14. Eng. trans. by L. Villari, 2 vol. 1878) ; in vol. 2 there is an exhaustive criticism of the various authors who have written on Machiavelli. See also: F. Nitti, Machiavelli nella vita e nelle dottrine (Naples 1876) ; 0. Tommasini, La vita e gli scritti di Niccold Machiavelli (Turin 1883) ; It Principe (with notes by L. A. Burd 1891) ; Lord Morley, Machiavelli (Romanes lecture, Oxford 1897) ; L. A. Burd, "Florence: Machiavelli" in Camb. Mod. Hist. vol. I., The Renaissance (with bibl. 1902) ; V. Turri, Machiavelli (1902) ; J. G. Fichte, Machiavelli (1918) ; F. Ercole, La Politica di Machiavelli (1926) ; J. Schubert, Machiavelli and die politischen Probleme unserer Zeit (1927) ; M. Praz, Machia velli and the Elizabethans (1928). (J. A. S.)