Preface to Machiavelli’s selected letters

Résumé

The selection of Machiavelli’s letters presented here would like to project a narrative of his metamorphosis from political thinker into creative author. The two facets of his thinking intersect in his famous letter from December 10, 1513 in which he claims he is writing The Prince. It appears the work had already been completed by this point, needing only slight additions. Naturally, the narrative projected here does not exclude the existence of everyday letters saturated by sexual themes, nor does it mean the total absence of political analyses in his later letters. However, in 1513-1514 there is an evident thematic turn in the correspondence, and it supports the editorial intuition that Machiavelli himself would accept this reading (and editing) of his letters.