Mandragola

This edition presents Niccolò Machiavelli's Renaissance comedy in a close English rendering by Ronald Flaumenhaft, who aimed to stay true to the author's wording and meaning. Flaumenhaft explains that Machiavelli kept translation and adaptation distinct in his own mind, which is why a faithful version matters for understanding the play and its ideas.

The introduction places the stage comedies within the Italian Renaissance tradition of the Comedia Erudita and considers how they relate to Machiavelli's political writings. The play itself turns on the link between private morality and public conduct, a concern that runs through much of his work. Notes explain allusions, language and historical context, and Latin passages and idioms are given there as well. Character names, places, forms of address and some common Italian expressions are kept in Italian.