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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. Page 1 of 8 →
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Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
The Life of Lorenzo de Medici , called the Magnificent . By William Roscoe . 2 vol . \ to . Price _ / . -it . Edwards . WHILE our travelled gentlemen and ladies amuse themselves with superficial observations on the countries and people they run over , or with apinr ; the follies and vices of strangers , a private man , amid the engagements of ; . profession , aud p laced beyond the limits of that favoured country , cb" Appenuin parte el mar cinoKd'' a tl Alpef' finds time to collect into one
" focus the striking events of one of the most interesting periods of th ' history of the world ; a period abounding with great statesmen and great scholars . The revival of literature , or , it may be , the introduction of Greek and Roman learning , is a feature of universal history , of which we have long impatiently expected a good delineation-. It was promised , in a history of the reign of Leo X . by one of our own countrymen ; * but , by one of the sinister accidents ' of human life , never carried into execution . Another of our
countrymen , Dr . Hody , claims no little merit in . his endeavours towards sneh-a work ; but these are only sketches . Tbe life and labours of LORENZO DE MEDICI is another such feature . Mr . Roscoe , in a remote part of the kingdom , deprived of many advantages peculiar to seats' of learning , saw no difficulty in g iving a move full , distinct , and accurate idea of the subject , than could be collected from any performance he had then met with . For some years past , the works of the Italian writers had amused a portion of his leisure hours : a partiality for any particular object generally awakens , the desire of obtaining ftrtlier information respecting it ; and , from the perusal of the Italian poets ,
he was insensibly led to attend to the literary history ot that cultivated nation . In tracing the rise , of modern literature , he soon perceived that every thing great and estimable in science , and in art , revolved round Lorenzo de Medici , during the short , but splendid , sera of his life , as a common centre , and derived from him its invariable preservation and support . He began to collect such scattered notices respecting him as fell n . his way ; and the Florentine histories of Machiivelli and Ammirato , the critical labours of . Cresceiubeni ,
Mttratori , J 3 : mdini , and Tiraboschi , and other works of less importance , of which lie found himself possessed , supplied him with materials towards the execution of his p lan . lie had not gone far , before he perceived the subject demanded a more minute enquiry : tor whicli . purpose it would be necessary to resort to cotemporary authors , and , if possible , to original documents . The impossibility of obtaining , in this country , the irifornution of which he stood in need , would , perhaps , have damped the ardour of his undertaking ,
had not a circumstance presented itself , in the highest degree favourable to his purpose . An intimate friend , with whom he bad been maiw years united jn studies and affection , had paid a visit to Italy , and had fixed his winter residence at Florence . Mr , R , well knew that be had only to request his assistance , to obtain whatever information he had an opportunity of procuring , from the very spot which was to be the scene of his intended history . His enquiries were particularly directed towards the Laurentian and Riccar - dian libraries , the inestimable treasures of which had , by the munificence of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS .
The Life of Lorenzo de Medici , called the Magnificent . By William Roscoe . 2 vol . \ to . Price _ / . -it . Edwards . WHILE our travelled gentlemen and ladies amuse themselves with superficial observations on the countries and people they run over , or with apinr ; the follies and vices of strangers , a private man , amid the engagements of ; . profession , aud p laced beyond the limits of that favoured country , cb" Appenuin parte el mar cinoKd'' a tl Alpef' finds time to collect into one
" focus the striking events of one of the most interesting periods of th ' history of the world ; a period abounding with great statesmen and great scholars . The revival of literature , or , it may be , the introduction of Greek and Roman learning , is a feature of universal history , of which we have long impatiently expected a good delineation-. It was promised , in a history of the reign of Leo X . by one of our own countrymen ; * but , by one of the sinister accidents ' of human life , never carried into execution . Another of our
countrymen , Dr . Hody , claims no little merit in . his endeavours towards sneh-a work ; but these are only sketches . Tbe life and labours of LORENZO DE MEDICI is another such feature . Mr . Roscoe , in a remote part of the kingdom , deprived of many advantages peculiar to seats' of learning , saw no difficulty in g iving a move full , distinct , and accurate idea of the subject , than could be collected from any performance he had then met with . For some years past , the works of the Italian writers had amused a portion of his leisure hours : a partiality for any particular object generally awakens , the desire of obtaining ftrtlier information respecting it ; and , from the perusal of the Italian poets ,
he was insensibly led to attend to the literary history ot that cultivated nation . In tracing the rise , of modern literature , he soon perceived that every thing great and estimable in science , and in art , revolved round Lorenzo de Medici , during the short , but splendid , sera of his life , as a common centre , and derived from him its invariable preservation and support . He began to collect such scattered notices respecting him as fell n . his way ; and the Florentine histories of Machiivelli and Ammirato , the critical labours of . Cresceiubeni ,
Mttratori , J 3 : mdini , and Tiraboschi , and other works of less importance , of which lie found himself possessed , supplied him with materials towards the execution of his p lan . lie had not gone far , before he perceived the subject demanded a more minute enquiry : tor whicli . purpose it would be necessary to resort to cotemporary authors , and , if possible , to original documents . The impossibility of obtaining , in this country , the irifornution of which he stood in need , would , perhaps , have damped the ardour of his undertaking ,
had not a circumstance presented itself , in the highest degree favourable to his purpose . An intimate friend , with whom he bad been maiw years united jn studies and affection , had paid a visit to Italy , and had fixed his winter residence at Florence . Mr , R , well knew that be had only to request his assistance , to obtain whatever information he had an opportunity of procuring , from the very spot which was to be the scene of his intended history . His enquiries were particularly directed towards the Laurentian and Riccar - dian libraries , the inestimable treasures of which had , by the munificence of