| FB-54117-09 | Research Programs: Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars | Edward Leroy Goldberg | A Critical Edition of the Letters from Benedetto Blanis to Don Giovanni de' Medici | 1/1/2009 - 12/31/2009 | $50,400.00 | Edward | Leroy | Goldberg | | | | Medici Archive Project Inc. | New York | NY | 10018-0983 | USA | 2008 | Renaissance Studies | Fellowships for College Teachers and Independent Scholars | Research Programs | 50400 | 0 | 50400 | 0 |
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. |