Product Review

One of the most useful books dealing with Italian social history! This unique volume offers readers a glimpse into the private lives of two Florentine businessmen during the late fourteenth century. A translated, abridged version of the personal chronicles of Buonaccorso Pitti and Gregorio Dati forms the body of this collection; the editor's useful introduction ("Florentine Diaries and Diarists") and footnotes provide relevant background information and textual explanations. These two men, whose lifetimes spanned nearly identical periods, were witnesses to one of the most creative half- centuries in Florentine history. As representatives of Florence's governing class, their memoirs (a common literary form in Renaissance Florence) provide important insights into characteristic features of Florentine business activity and political experience.