LUCREZIA BORGIA: Life, Love And Death IN Renaissance Italy

Bradford, Sarah

ISBN 10: 0670033537 / ISBN 13: 9780670033539

Published by NY. 2004. Viking Press / Penguin Group, 2004

About this Item

cream & light blue hardcover 8vo. (octavo). dustwrapper in protective plastic book jacket cover. very fine cond. mint cond. looks new. like new. as new. binding square & tight. covers clean. edges clean. contents free of markings. dustwrapper in fine cond. not worn or torn or price clipped. nice clean copy. no library markings, store stamps, stickers, bookplates, no names, inking, underlining, remainder markings etc~. first american edition so stated. first printing (#1 in # line). . xxiv+421p. 2 b&w maps. 3 genealogical trees. 23 glossy b&w illustrations & photos. archives. source notes. bibliography. index. biography. world history. history of italy. ~ The very name Lucrezia Borgia conjures up everything that was sinister and corrupt about the Renaissance ~ incest, political assassination, papal sexual abuse, poisonous intrigue, unscrupulous power grabs. Yet, as bestselling biographer Sarah Bradford reveals in this breathtaking new portrait ~ the first full~scale biography of Lucrezia since before World War II ~ the truth is far more fascinating than the myth. Neither a vicious monster nor a seductive pawn, Lucrezia Borgia was a shrewd, determined woman who used her beauty and intelligence to secure a key role in the political struggles of her day. Born the illegitimate daughter of Rodrigo Cardinal Borgia and his scheming mistress, Vannozza Cattanei, Lucrezia was twelve when her father became Pope Alexander VI and thirteen when she was forced into her first marriage. She would marry twice more, gaining increasing power with each match, until she came into her own as duchess of the city~state of Ferrara. Bradford argues that in her maturity Lucrezia was an enlightened ruler, kind and decisive in time of war, generous to the poets and artists of her court, passionate in love and utterly indifferent to sexual morality. Drawing from a trove of contemporary documents and fascinating firsthand accounts, Bradford brings to life the art, the pageantry and the dangerous politics of the Renaissance world Lucrezia Borgia helped to create. Bradford is an expert on the Borgia family and in Lucrezia she has found a subject ideally suited to her gift for narrative and psychological insight. Sex, gossip, murder, astonishing beauty and ambition ~ this is the Renaissance at its most irresistible. Seller Inventory # 6262001

Bibliographic Details

Title: LUCREZIA BORGIA: Life, Love And Death IN ...

Publisher: NY. 2004. Viking Press / Penguin Group

Publication Date: 2004

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

A sympathetic portrait of the infamous Renaissance woman discusses her origins as the illegitimate child of Pope Alexander VI, forced first marriage at the age of thirteen, increasing power over the course of two subsequent marriages, and shrewd choices in the face of the era's political struggles. By the author of America's Queen and Disraeli. 75,000 first printing.

Review:

"Bradford's zest for this era is contagious." --USA Today

"A lively view of Lucrezia, capturing the glamour and tragedy of her story." --The Wall Street Journal

"This is also a tender and intimate account of a misunderstood and passionate woman." --Elle