1 Printed by A. Blado d'Asola, Roma. I shall use the text, printed in Donato Giannotti, Opere, vol. 1, Pisa, 1819; all footnotes, giving the name of Giannotti and a page indication, will refer to this work in this edition.

2 Printed ex officio M. Vascosani (Parisiis, 1543). I shall use the text, printed in Gasparo Contarini, Opera (Parisiis, 1571). All footnotes, giving the name of Contarini and a page indication, will refer to this work in this edition.

3 Contarini, p. 264, states directly that he was the first to undertake a description of the Venetian system of government: ‘Quam ob rem putavi ego exteris hominibus rem minime ingratum atque inutilem facturum, si tam praeclarae Reipublicae institutionem literis mandarem, quern praesertim nullum his temporibus videam ex quam plurimis doctissimis viris, qui multum ingenio, eruditioiie rerum omnium, ac eloquntia valent, hanc rem literis illustravisse… .'

4 Giannotti, p. 20, states that only a ‘libretto del Sabellico’ gave a rather unsatisfactory treatment of the Venetian governmental organization.

5 These dates for Giannotti's stay in Padua and Venice have been established by Roberto Ridolfi, ‘Sommario della vita di Donato Giannotti', Opuscoli (Firenze, 1942), pp. 67-82.

6 Contarini returned from his mission to Charles v in Spain in November 1525, and he left Venice for his next diplomatic mission in October 1527; see Franz Dittrich, Regesten und Briefe des Kardinals Gasparo Contarini (Braunsberg, 1881), pp. 26-27.

7 Michele Lupo Gentile, ‘Studi sulla Storiografia Fiorentina alia corte di Cosimo 1 de' Medici', Annali della R. Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Filosqfia e Filologia, xix (1906), 141: ‘Quanto alle lettere di favore comune a voi et al nostro Pagolantonio habbiam fatto M. Donato et io ogni diligenza per farvi servire, ed di gia havevano tratto lettere di favore a M. Guaspare Conterini che si truova costi di M. Nice.^o Delfino et d ‘ a l t r i … ‘ (from a letter of Paolo Pazzi to Bernardo Segni, 4 May 1527; the context makes it clear that ‘M. Donato’ is Giannotti).

8 See Contarini's philosophical letter to Trifon Gabriele in Lettere di XIII Huotnini IHustri (Venetia, 1560), pp. 453-459, but see also the praise of Gabriele in Contarini's correspondence with Tomaso Giustiniani, published by Hubert Jedin, ‘Contarini und Camaldoli', Archivio Italiano per la Storia della Pieta, 11 (1952), 78.

9 See Luigi A. Ferrai, ‘Lettere inedite di Donato Giannotti', Atti del R. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, m, Serie sesta (1884-85), 1581.

10 See Jedin, op. cit., p. 81.

11 For Contarini's admiration of Diacceto, see Jedin, op. cit., pp. 101, 114; for Giannotti and Diacceto, see Ridolfi, op. cit., p. 60.

12 Contarini to the Senate, 25 September 1529: ‘In questo stesso giorno era giunto qui D. Francesco Nasi mandato da Firenze … Io per intendere qualche particularità da questo oratore el qual già molti anni mi è amico lo invitai l'altra sera ad cenar meco et con lui ragionai gran pezzo ne possi cavar da lui particularita alcuna di momento … ‘, Venice, Biblioteca Marciana, Codex 1043 (CI. VII, ital.).

13 On the relations between Giannotti and Francesco Nasi, see Giuseppe Sanesi, La Vita e le Opere di Donato Giannotti (Pistoia, 1899), pp. 45-47; Nasi played a role in Florentine politics from 1527 to 1530, but I have been unable to discover any connection between Giannotti and Nasi before 1527.

14 Franz Dittrich, Gasparo Contarini, eine Monographic (Braunsberg, 1885), p. 251, and Regesten, p. 17.

15 Hermann Hackert, Die Staatsschrift Gasparo Contarinis undDie Politischen Verhdltnisse Venedigs im Sechzehnten Jahrhundert (Heidelberg, 1940), p. 115. The relevant passages of the letter of Sadoleto to Pole are given in Dittrich, Regesten, p. 75.

16 ‘Tandem quarto ab hinc anno, referentibus Dominico Trivisano, Senatore amplissimo, atque Andrea Gritti, cuius ducis auspiciis nunc res publica Veneta regitur, sapientissimo atque integerrimo Senatore, factum est senatus consultum ut nulla amplius emolumenti erogandi mentio fieret, neque in codicibus publicis post id tempus id aeris acceptum a civibus referretur. Verum ne omnino a republica fraudati esse videntur, capitis restitutioni, necnon etiam emolumenti quod ad earn diem eis debebatur cum multa vectigalia assignata sunt, turn reipublicae possessiones omnes in agro Rodiginsi postae, sunt distribute. Cuius muneris maxima parte nos functi sumus, qui illo tempore magistratum gerebamus, qui ante nostra tempora institutus praecipue fuerat ad huiusmodi aes alienum rei publicae minuendum, aut, si fieri possit, extinguendum', Contarini, p. 311.

17 See Marino Sanudo, Diarii, XXVI, 497-499 (decree about sale of lands ‘nel Polinese di Ruigi', 25 February 1519) and p. 483 (letter from Contarini ‘da Ruigi', ‘come havea dato principio a mesurare li campi’). The'Commissio S. Gasparis Contareni Provisoris super camera imprestitorum’ was dated 7 February 1518; see Dittrich, Regesten, p. 9.

18 For instance, Contarini, p. 287: ‘… nostra tempestate in comitiis, quibus Andreas Gritti, amplissimus Senator, creatus est dux … ‘, or the mentioning of Gritti on p. 311 (see above n. 16).

19 ‘ … ut inter tot negotia Reipublicae, quibus iam quadriennium occupatissimi fuimus, dum legatione hac fungimur apud Carolum Quintum Cesarem, Hispaniorumque regem, aliquando in parentis nostrae philosophiae deliciis, dum liceat respiremus', Contarini, 'Compendium Primae Philosophiae', Opera (Parisiis, 1571), p. 101.

20 Contarini, p. 317: ‘Advocatores etiam quandoque sententiis capitalibus praetorum intercedere solebant: sed quoniam usu plerumque solitum erat ut judicia protraherentur neque sortes criminum ac scelerum poenas darent: late fuit lex a decemvirum collegio, minime id juris Advocatoribus amplius in sententiis esse, quae a praetoribus assentibus jurispertis quos secum comites ducunt, ut sopra dixi, pronunciatae essent.'

21 Hackert, op. cit., p. 115, directed attention to the fact that this decree might assist in dating Contarini's treatise, but added that the relevant files were lost. He has overlooked that this decree was published in Volumen Statutorum, Legum, acjurium D. Venetorum (Venetiis, 1563)^. 56y: ‘InConsiliox, i53i,luglio2 …chelesententiecondennatorie publicate in Arengo per li Rettori che hanno Corte, siano inapellabili… .'

22 See Dittrich, Regesten, p. 74.

23 See Contarini, ‘De immortalitate animae', Opera (Parisiis, 1571), p . 211 and Giovanni della Casa's ‘Vita', printed as introduction to Contarini, Opera (Parisiis, 1571), particularly p. dIIII.

24 Published by Luigi A. Ferrai in AM del R. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, m, serie sesta (1884/1885), 1570-84. Letters by Giannotti have been published at a number of places; they are listed by Randolph Starns, ‘Additions to the Correspondence of Donato Giannotti: A List and Sampling of Fifty-Four Unpublished Letters', Rinascimento, xv (1964), 101-122; it is to be hoped that the author will soon be able to carry out his project of a publication of Giannotti's correspondence.

25 Published in Giannotti, Opere (Pisa, 1819), 111, 199-200.

26 Firenze, Biblioteca Riccardiana, Cod. 2076.

27 Giannotti, p. 5: ‘… la fortuna mi ha tolto il potere ristorare gli amici de’ beneficj ricevuti…'.

28 That the manuscript underwent revisions after 1526 is generally accepted, even by Roberto Ridolfi, ‘Sommario', Opuscoli (Firenze, 1942), p. 99, who believes that the work in a form ‘in tutto simile a quella definitiva’ was completed before I November 1526. Although, as the following will show, I too arrive at the conclusion that the work in its essential features was finished before the summer of 1527 (i.e., not very far from Ridolfi's final term), I believe that the issues involved can be more clearly defined and established than Ridolfi has done; he treats the question of dating this work rather cavalierly, and therefore not very convincingly.

29 For instance, ‘Lodovico', instead of'Dallo Dovico', on c. 187^v; similar corrections of errors of the copyists on c. 53^v, 100^v, 119^r, 126^v, 154^v, 181^V, 198^r.

30 For instance, ‘agevolezza', instead of'facilita', on c. 24^v; similar stylistic changes and small insertions on c. 23^r, 23^v, 44^r, 85^v, 103^v, 109^r , 125^r, 127^r, 148^v, 149^r, 156^r, l64^r, 168^v, 182^r, 198^r.

31 ‘ … avrebbe mantenuta là sua liberta, la dove al presente essendo oppressa, … vive infelice e disonorata’ was replaced by ‘coi quali si sarebbe libera mantenuta, nè avrebbe sentito quelle alterazioni che l'hanno ad estrema ruina condotta', c. 51^v. This change is discussed at some length by Ridolfi, op. cit., p. 99, note. Ridolfi maintains that even the first version could not have been written before 1527, ‘sotto il temperato governo di Clemente vn', but this view of Ridolfi seems to me clearly mistaken. Ridolfi seems to be unaware of the extent to which the circle, in which Giannotti moved, was opposed to the Medici; see my article ‘The Venetian Constitution in Florentine Political Thought', to appear soon in Renaissance Florence, ed. Nicolai Rubinstein.

32 ‘ … esemplo et persuasion di mons. Bembo', Giannotti to Piero Vettori, 13 August 1540, printed in Donato Giannotti, Lettere a Piero Vettori, ed. Roberto Ridolfi and Cecil Roth (Firenze, 1932), p. 68.

33 See above, n. 24. Giannotti asked for information about ‘il numero de’ cittadini et popolari, et huomini da portar arme, come si tragga per sorte, qual bancho et da che testa venga al capello, et le entrate della citta', Ferrai, he. cit., p. 1581. These are all questions, serving to check factual details.

34 ‘Io non so per qual cagione awenisse, quando ero costi, che non ve li mostrai, havendolo letto tutto a m. Niccoló Dolfin (Dio habbia hauta l'anima sua) et racconcio in qualche parte', ibid., p . 1581. That Giannotti had not been in Venice between 1527 and 1533 results from the same letter, although it can also be concluded from what we know about the facts of his life. See also Lettere di Giambatista Busini a Benedetto Varchi, ed. Gaetano Milanesi (Firenze, 1861), p. 30, where Busini writes that in Florence, after 1527, 'spesso andava in volta il Libro del Giannotto del ritratto del governo Veneziano', but this letter was written in 1548 and Busini is not a very reliable witness.

35 All these chronological references are rather vague, and it is not possible on their basis to tie the writing of the work down to any particular month or part of the year.

36 ‘… come la pestilenza, due anni sono, aveva danneggiato la vostra citta, …', Giannotti, p. 40. For a description of this plague, see Bartolomeo Masi, Ricordanze, ed. Odoardo Corazzini (Firenze, 1906), p. 1906.

37 ‘… non sono ancora due anni…', Giannotti, p. 227. The date of the ‘condotta’ of Francesco Maria della Rovere is given in La Civilta Veneziana del Rinascimento: Centro di Cultura e Civiltà-Fondazione Cini (Firenze, 1958), p. 214.

38 The first reference to this law, as issued ‘pochi mesi sono', in Giannotti, p. 127; on p. 224, the other reference to this law as published ‘non sono ancora due anni'.

39 ‘ … non si possi toccar da mano, abbracciarsi ne far alcun segno di congratulatione alii romasti; ne di dolersi alii caduti…', Venezia, Archivio di Stato, Censori, Capitolari, busta 1, c. 18V. This law has escaped previous investigations because it is misplaced in the files among documents of later centuries.

40 Francesco Guicciardini, Opere Inedite (Firenze, 1867), x, 389-403. This piece is identical with the manuscript, listed in Roberto Ridolfi's Archivio della FamigUa Guicciardini (Firenze, 1931), p. 71.

41 See Giannotti's letter to Niccolo Guicciardini, January 1531, printed by Starns, op. cit., 110-112. After the establishment of Alessandro and Cosimo in Florence, Guicciardini and Giannotti were in opposite political camps, and direct contacts between them are less likely.

42 Compare Giannotti, pp. 227-229 and Guicciardini, Opere Inedite, x, 402-403. The amount, given for the entire income of Venice, is identical, but Guicciardini has figures about single items which Giannotti does not have. There can be no doubt that Guicciardini's data cannot have been taken from the published version of Giannotti's dialogue.

43 See above, n. 33.

44 For these writings and the origin of the Venetian myth, see my article ‘The Venetian Constitution in Florentine Political Thought’ in Renaissance Florence, ed. Nicolai Rubinstein, and the literature listed there. Most of these writings were not printed. As far as I could discover, the only two printed treatises, especially devoted to Venice, were a little book by Sabellico on the Venetian magistrates, and a work by the Count of Porcia, De reipublicae Venetae administratione (Treviso, 1477). Porcia's work lacks details and concreteness.

45 Ferrai, op. tit., p. 1580: ‘Non ho preso questa fatica per ambitione ma solamente per pubblica utilità et maxime de’ Toscani, a’ quali pare di godere una libera civilta, et a fatica non sanno quello che s'importi il nome.'

46 On Contarini's use of the idea of mixed government, see Hackert, op. tit., particularly pp. 102-103.

47 See above, n. 3.

48 According to the catalogues of the British Museum and the Bibliothàque Nationale, nine (1543, 1544, 1548, 1561, 1564, 1589, 1591, 1591, 1592) Latin and Italian editions of Contarini's work were printed in the sixteenth century, and two French translations (1544, 1557). Giannotti's dialogue was published five times(i540,1542,1560,1570,1591) in Italian and twice in German translation (1557, 1574). On Contarini's political importance in the seventeenth century, see Zera S. Fink, The Classical Republicans (Evanston, 1945), pp. 37-40. An analysis of Giannotti's political thought, in addition to the literature mentioned above, can be found in Rudolf von Albertini, Das Florentinische Staatsbewusstsein im Uebergang von der Republik zum Prinzipat (Bern, 1955), pp. 146-166.