Grimm, Hermann, Life of Michael Angelo (trans. by Fanny E. Burnett), London, 1896, 2 vols.—Guicciardini, F., History of Italy from 1490-1532 (trans, by Austin P. Goddard), London, 1753, 10 vols.
Since the publication in 1857 of his Opere inedite, Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540) has stood in the first rank among political philosophers, even disputing the supremacy with his friend Macchiavelli. He had a long career as diplomatist, statesman, and general in which in addition to the vices of his age he displayed such cold calculation, phlegmatic egotism and glaring discord between opinions and practice as to make him perhaps the most odious of his contemporaries. Yet it is this very want of feeling that gives excellence to his history. His style is dull and prolix and he has no sense of perspective, but as an analyst he stands without a rival. His history is of no interest to the general reader, but is of great importance for research in the period with which it deals, 1494-1532.
Hallam, H., View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages.—Hartmann, L. M., Geschichte Italiens im Mittelalter, Gotha, 1897-1900, 2 vols.—Hartwig, O., Quellen und Forschungen zur ältesten Geschichte der Stadt Florenz, Halle, 1875-1880, 2 vols.—Hawthorne, Nathaniel, Marble Faun, 1860.—Hazlitt, W. C., History of the Venetian Republic, London, 1860, 4 vols.—Hegel, Carl, Geschichte der Städteverfassung von Italien, Leipsic, 1847, 2 vols.—Hennegay, F., Histoire de l’Italie depuis 1815, Paris, 1885.—Heyd, W. von Geschichte des Lavantehandels im Mittelalter, Leipsic, 1885-1886, 2 vols.—Hillebrand, K., Dino Compagni: Étude Historique et Littéraire sur l’époque de Dante, Paris, 1862.—Hodgkin, Thomas, Italy and her Invaders, Oxford, 1880-1885, 4 vols.
Thomas Hodgkin is the first to present in English the results of modern research concerning the barbarian invasions of Italy. He gives a full description of the social organisation, and traces in detail the movements of the various Germanic and Asiatic tribes.
Hunt, L., Italian Poets, London, 1846, 2 vols.—Hunt, William, History of Italy, London and New York, 1874.
Jona, G., La Rappresentanza politica, Modena, 1892.
Kington, F. L., History of Frederick II, Emperor of the Romans, London, 1862, 2 vols.—Kugler, F. T., Handbook of Painting. The Italian Schools. Revised and remodelled from the most recent researches by Lady Eastlake, London, 1880, 2 vols.
Labarthe, J., History of the Arts of the Middle Ages, London, 1855—Leo, H., Geschichte der italienischen Staaten, Hamburg, 1829-1832, 5 vols.; Entwickelung der Verfassung der lombardischen Städte, Hamburg, 1824.—Locascio, F., Fa fallita Italica, Rebellione del 1848, Palermo, 1887.—Lozzi, C. Biblioteca istorica della antica e nuova Italia, Palermo, 1886.—Luise, G. di, Storia critica delle Revoluzioni italiane, Napoli, 1887.
Macaulay, T. B., Machiavelli, Essay on, London and New York.—Machiavelli, N., History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy, London, 1847; Works translated by Detmold, Boston, 1882, 4 vols.—Malaspini, Ricordano and Giacotto, L’Istoria antica dell’origine di Fiorenza sino all’anno 1281, con l’aggiunta dal detto anno per insino al 1286, Fiorenze, 1566. (Also in Muratori, vol. VIII.)
Of Ricordano and Giacotto Malaspini we possess but very meagre and uncertain information. The chronicle bearing their names was long believed to be the earliest work on Italian history written in the vernacular, but its authenticity has recently been questioned. Villani contains much of the same matter in nearly the same words. It is conjectured that the so-called Malaspini were of later date than Villani and that they either copied from him or both copied from a common source that has not come down to us. All this, however, does not detract from the picturesqueness and interest of their chronicle, nor from its reliability as to the facts narrated in it.