Rare first edition of Machiavelli’s famous leadership treatise, ‘The Prince,’ goes up for auction промышленный варочный котел

The Italian Renaissance diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli has become synonymous with subtle scheming. And now, an extremely rare first edition of his most famous work, the political manual “The Prince,” is going up for auction, with an expected sale price of up to £300,000 ($375,000).

The copy of the early 16th-century book is one of only 11 first editions to be recorded, according to auction house Sotheby’s. While all the others are held by institutional libraries, largely in Italy, this example comes from a private collector and was previously unknown.
“We were not aware of any other copies in private hands, and this is the first copy that we are aware of to have come to auction, certainly in recent decades,” Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s Books & Manuscripts specialist, told CNN.

“So, we have one of the great works of political theory of all time, one of the most famous books of the 16th century and it’s a very first edition, and unique opportunity for a copy to come to auction,” he added.

Heaton said the auction house is “delighted” and “excited” to offer the “incredibly rare book” at Sotheby’s in London in its next Books & Manuscripts auction, which runs from November 28 to December 12.

He described this copy of “The Prince,” which is still in its early-17th-century Italian binding, as “very interesting.”