Venice, Cità Excelentissima: Selections from the Renaissance Diaries of Marin Sanudo

Author

Marino Sanuto the Younger

Original Work

Diaries

Translator

Linda L. Carroll

Editor

Patricia H. Labalme, Laura Sanguineti White

Language

English

Year

2008

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press

Country

United States

Pages

608

ISBN

9780801887659

0000

When Venice was both a center of Renaissance culture and a gathering place for news from around the world, Marin Sanudo tried to write everything down. He was the finest diarist of his time, with a keen eye for the everyday and the monumental alike. Venice, Cità Excelentissima offers a broad and engaging introduction to Sanudo's detailed observations of life in his beloved city and the world it knew. This expertly translated volume glimpses into Renaissance life at a spectacular time when Venice was at the top of its game. Organized thematically, the selections offer a Venetian's viewpoint of the glories of high culture, the gritty reality and sparkling drama of daily life, the perils of diplomacy and war, and the high-risk ventures of voyages and commerce. Here, the work of the Renaissance's most assiduous historian is finally given the accessibility it warrants and the merit it is due.— Google Books