Pico della Mirandola: Oration on the Dignity of Man
A New Translation and Commentary

A new translation of Pico della Mirandola's most famous work, with extensive notes and commentary.

Pico della Mirandola (Author), Francesco Borghesi (Edited by), Michael Papio (Edited by), Massimo Riva (Edited by)

9781107015876, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 August 2012

318 pages, 4 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.59 kg

"Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s Oratio is arguably the best-known text of Renaissance philosophy.... an impressive collection that includes several substantive essays, a Latin text with an excellent facing-page English translation, a critical overview of the text, and a detailed footnote commentary.... This volume is a model of collaborative scholarship and constitutes a major contribution to the study of the work of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. In meticulous detail, it explores the many sources at Pico’s disposal.... the volume presents a highly consistent and extremely valuable commentary on Pico’s best-known text."
--M. V. Dougherty, Ohio Dominican University, Renaissance Quarterly

This is a new translation of and commentary on Pico della Mirandola's most famous work, the Oration on the Dignity of Man. It is the first English edition to provide readers with substantial notes on the text, essays that address the work's historical, philosophical and theological context, and a survey of its reception. Often called the 'Manifesto of the Renaissance', this brief but complex text was originally composed in 1486 as the inaugural speech for an assembly of intellectuals, which could have produced one of the most exhaustive metaphysical, theological and psychological debates in history, had Pope Innocent VIII not forbidden it. This edition of the Oration reflects the spirit of the original text in bringing together experts in different fields. Not unlike the debate Pico optimistically anticipated, the resulting work is superior to the sum of its parts.

Part I. Preface, Introduction, Overview: 1. Preface: history of the project and criteria for the current edition M. Riva
2. The historical and biographical background of the oration P. C. Bori
3. Chronology F. Borghesi
4. The Oration's printed editions M. Papio
5. Interpretations F. Borghesi
6. Overview
Part II. Text: 7. Latin text with facing English translation and commentary in the footnotes
Part III. Images: 8. Four images from the Palatine manuscript
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX], Western philosophy: Medieval & Renaissance, c 500 to c 1600 [HPCB], History of Western philosophy [HPC]