CAMPANELLA, Tommasso.

De monarchia hispanica. Editio nouvissima, aucta & emendata ut præfatio ad lectorem indicat.

      Amsterdam, Louis Elzevir, 1641. Finely engraved alegorical title page. (4 ll.), 379 [i.e. 376] pp. Page 376 misnumbered 379. * , A-Z , 2A . 24º, contemporary stiff vellum (ties gone; small defect to spine), horizontal manuscript author and title on spine (rather faint). Fraying at outer edge of title page and next four leaves, affecting a few letters of text. Some small dampstains. A somewhat less than good copy. Contemporary ink inscription on title page. Engraved armorial and pictorial bookplate of Robert R. Livingston of Clermont (1746-1813), New York legislator and revolutionary patriot. This work is an able account of late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century politics, especially Spanish, as well as being a basic political economy text for the period, including a chapter on governing the American colonies, and one on navigation. It was translated from the original Italian manuscript and published first in German, then translated into Latin. Tommaso Campanella (Stilo, Calabria, 1568 – Paris, 1639) was one of the most important philosophers of the late Renaissance. His best-known work is the utopian treatise @La città del Sole; inspired by Plato's @Republic, but, in reality, his thought was extremely complex and engaged with all fields of learning. The fundamental core of his thinking was concerned with the philosophy of nature (what would nowadays be called science), magic, political theory and natural religion.Campanella's reflections on Machiavelli, and on “politicians” in general, constituted one of the most forceful aspects of his thought. His deliberations focused, above all, on two closely connected points. On the one hand, he underlined the philosophical limits of Machiavelli's theories—limits that made his political constructions inherently fragile. On the other hand, he developed and inserted into a Catholic and Counter-Reformation context an element that was already present in Machiavelli, especially in his Discourses on the @First Decade of Livy: the view of religion as one of the most powerful bonds in the human community.Both these elements are found in this central text of Campanella's political thought, the @Monarchia hispanica. From the outset, he expresses the doctrine of the three causes that are at the origin of political associations—God, prudence and expediency—in order to highlight the inadequacy of a vision of history, characteristic of politicians, that is limited solely to human causes. The first cause, that rules and governs the others and that is always present, even if in hidden ways, in all historical events is, of course, God. This means that a skillful and shrewd politician must endeavor to integrate empirical causes into more general ones. To this end, it is indispensable to have recourse to the “highest sciences” of prophecy and of astrology, that enable one to insert particular events into a universal background.Appealing to biblical texts, Campanella maintains that the Spanish sovereign can aspire to the monarchy of the world if he takes inspiration from the model of Cyrus, invested by God, as Isaiah (45.1) confirms, with the mission of liberating the Church from infidels and of bringing together all peoples under a single faith. For the Catholic king the only practical way of achieving his own universal plans is through a firm accord with the Church and with the pope, following the example of Constantine and Charlemagne. Campanella further stresses that religion is the most powerful bond of political unity. Machiavelli, too, had emphasized the strength of this bond, when analyzing the events of the Roman Republic, but then had condemned the Christian religion as a cause of weakness, strife and divisions. Campanella has no doubt that religion, whether true or false, is the primary and most powerful unifying force in the political body, in that it rules over souls and brings them together, and that all other ties between human beings depend on it.The two other primary causes of political associations are prudence and expediency. Here another key element in Campanella's thought comes into play: the return to nature. Political associations, like all other natural entities, are living organisms. The main task of political action will therefore be to promote the most effective union among its members. The virtue specific to this activity is prudence, which has the job of reinforcing natural bonds and coming up with unifying techniques designed to strengthen the ties of individuals with the whole, of integrating unlike with like and of attenuating the most violent conflicts, so that the result is the correct functioning and prosperity of the entire organism. When he speaks of prudence, Campanella insists on distinguishing it from Machiavellian cunning and from “reason of state,” drawing on various clever and subtle contrasts and distinctions. While prudence is an instrument of organic unity, cunning and reason of state are nothing but techniques designed to affirm individualistic egoism and, for this reason, are doomed to failure, as is amply demonstrated by the tragic end of Machiavellian heroes, whose successes are revealed to be merely apparent or ephemeral, or by the sad life of tyrants, constantly plagued by suspicions and fears. The wise politician is one who, having as his aim the solidarity and well-being of the whole community, is in a position to promote three different types of bond. First of all, there is the bond of souls, achieved by the impetus given to the humanities and sciences and to religion. Secondly, there is the bond of bodies, in relation to which Campanella insists on the expediency of increasing marriages by all available means, encouraging unions between individuals of different physical constitution and temperament and between the Spanish and other nations, in order both to spread "Spanishness" to other nations and to temper the vices of the Spanish people, who often arouse hatred for their humility when serving and for their pride when commanding. The third bond is that of goods of fortune; here it is a case of encouraging the economic prosperity of people by means of developing commerce and especially navigation, the vital lymphatic system that makes it possible to unite distant lands and to connect the separate limbs of the empire.@Provenance: Robert R. Livingston of Clermont was a classmate of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay at Kings College (now Columbia University). The Clermont estate was established in Dutchess County, New York in 1728 and remained in the family for seven successive generations — 230 years. Robert R. Livingston, son of Judge Robert R. Livingston and Margaret Beekman served with Thomas Jefferson as a member of the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. He took office as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1781 after it took Congress over nine months to select a candidate for the position. Recorder of New York, 1773-1775, Member of Continental Congress, 1775-77, 1779-81, 1784-85, on committee of five which drafted Declaration of Independence, Member of Provincial Congress, 1775-77, Chancellor of New York, 1777-1801, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 1781-1783, administered oath to George Washington as first President of United States, 1789, Grand Master of Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of New York State, 1784-1801. Chancellor Livingston concluded his public career as Thomas Jefferson's Minister to France between 1801 and 1804. While in Paris, he negotiated the Louisiana Purchase and entered into a partnership with Robert Fulton, a Pennsylvania-born painter and inventor who shared Livingston's fascination with steam navigation. Their creation, which they called the North River, is known to history as the Clermont. Their steamboat embarked on its maiden voyage between New York City and Albany in 1807, setting off a transportation revolution. Copinger, @The Elzevier Press 765. Willems 971: "Réimpression plus correcte de l'édition parue l'année précédente." CLC C391. Palau 41135 (describing the Amsterdam 1640 editon, with mention of the present one). This edition not in Sabin; cf. 10197. This edition not in HSA, which cites (on p.87) a German edition of 1623, a Latin edition of 1653, and an English edition of 1654. This edition not in JFB, which cites the German 1623 and English 1659-1560 editions(C24 and C25). See @Monarchie d'Espagne et Monarchie de France, ed. G. Ernst, French transl. S. Waldbaum and N. Fabry (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1997). The CCPBC locates only two copies of the present edition in Spanish Libraries, at the Biblioteca de la Universidad de Oviedo, and the Fundación Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid. REBIUN adds a copy at the Biblioteca de la Faculdad de Derecho de la Universidad de Salamanca. WorldCat locates copies of the present edition at the New York Public Library, Syracuse University, the Unversity of Toronto Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and the Cleveland Public Library. This edition not located in Library of Congress, whose Online Catalog cites a London 1654 edition in English, and a Frankfort 1686 edition in Latin. This edition not located in Josiah, which cites hard copies of Latin editions of Amsterdam 1640 (at JCB) and 1653 (at Hay), as well as English editions of London 1654 (at JCB) and 1659-1560 (at JCB); a German edition of [Frankfort?] 1620 is also cited (at JCB), as are other editions in microfilm and online.