Thomas Jefferson's Italian and Italian-Related Books in the History of Universal Personal Rights

Literary Nonfiction. Italian American Studies. Linda L. Carroll invites us to reconsider Jefferson's relationship with Italian thought and culture in a more expansive and encompassing manner. Going beyond Filippo Mazzei to Boccaccio's Decameron and Giotto's Scrovegni Chapel, from Vespucci, to Ariosto, Machiavelli and Guicciardini, from Tasso, to Sarpi, to Galilei. In the universe of Jefferson's library, we see the Italian texts functioning as a universal law of gravitation, holding everything--from natural law to conciliarism--in exquisite balance. A delight for philologists, bibliophiles, philosophers, and all those in Italian Studies.--Stanislao G. Pugliese