Paolo Giovio was an Italian physician, historian, and biographer, celebrated as a chronicler of the Italian Wars. His works, encompassing extensive histories of his era and collections of biographies of notable men, are valued for their detailed accounts and firsthand observations of numerous battles. Giovio provided one of the most significant primary sources for the period, with his eyewitness testimonies of battles being particularly esteemed for their accuracy. His writing offers readers a unique perspective on the events and figures of his time.
Paolo Giovio's Portraits of Learned Men provides brief biographies of 146 men from Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio to Erasmus, Thomas More, and Juan Luis Vives that were meant to accompany portraits in a museum of great figures in modern history. This volume contains a fresh edition of the Latin text and a new, more complete English translation.
Paolo Giovio's dialogue provides an informed perspective on the sack of Rome in 1527, from a friend of Pope Clement VII. The work discusses literary style and whether the vernacular could surpass Latin as a vehicle for literary expression. This volume includes a fresh edition of the Latin text and the first translation into English.