A Critical Edition of the Letters from Benedetto Blanis to Don Giovanni de' Medici

FAIN: FB-54117-09

Edward Leroy Goldberg
Medici Archive Project Inc. (New York, NY 10018-0983)

Between 1615 and 1620, Benedetto Blanis, a Jew in the Florentine Ghetto, wrote over 200 letters to Don Giovanni de' Medici, an influential member of the Tuscan ruling family. Benedetto was Don Giovanni's librarian and also his master of the occult, connecting him with astrologers, alchemists and kabbalists (both Christian and Jewish) throughout Italy. Benedetto's letters--previously unknown and unstudied--offer new insights into daily life in the Florentine Ghetto and behind the scenes at the Medici Court. They are immediately relevant to current research in social history, religious history, economic history and the history of science. Edward Goldberg will prepare a full critical edition of these letters for print publication, including transcriptions in the original Italian, scholarly apparatus (introduction, text and content notes, indices), English-language summaries and a substantial appendix of other related documents.

Associated Products

Jews and Magic in Medici Florence: The Secret World of Benedetto Blanis (Book)
Title: Jews and Magic in Medici Florence: The Secret World of Benedetto Blanis
Author: Edward Goldberg
Abstract: Biography of Benedetto Blanis, "a businessman and aspiring scholar from a distinguished Ghetto dynasty who sought to parlay his alleged mastery of astrology, alchemy, and Kabbalah into a grand position at the Medici Court." (from front cover)
Year: 2011
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781442642256
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

A Jew at the Medici Court: The Letters of Benedetto Blanis Hebreo, 1615-1621 (Book)
Title: A Jew at the Medici Court: The Letters of Benedetto Blanis Hebreo, 1615-1621
Author: Edward Goldberg
Editor: Edward Goldberg
Abstract: A companion to Goldberg's other book, A Jew at the Medici Court presents nearly 200 letters sent from Benedetto to Don Giovanni dei Medici in Renaissance Florence.
Year: 2011
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781442643833
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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