Hannah Arendt Library: The History of Florence

In a recent trip to the Hannah Arendt Library, we came across this copy of Niccolò Machiavelli's Geschichte von Florenz, or "The History of Florence."

Machiavelli's history, completed in 1520, was written on behalf of the Medici family and was ultimately delivered to Pope Giulio de Medici, or Clement VII, in 1525.

Noticeable in the photographs below is a passage Arendt underlined and highlighted. In German, it reads: "Ebensowenig bedachten sie, daß handlungen, die etwas Großes in sich haben wie es bei öffentlichen Angelegenheiten der Fall ist, welcher Art sie auch sein, welchen Zweck sie auch haben mögen, mehr Ehre bringen denn Tadel."

Translated into English, the passage states: "Nor they considered that negotiations that have something great in itself as it is the case with public affairs , whatever they be, what purpose they may have to bring more honor than censure."