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Primary sourceBook1910

The Prince (Harvard Classics edition)

Niccolò Machiavelli · 1910

An English translation of Machiavelli's The Prince, printed in 1910 as part of the Harvard Classics series, from a library copy annotated by a later reader.

This English translation of Machiavelli's own treatise carries a later reader's annotations, showing continued engagement with his ideas.

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The Prince (Harvard Classics edition)PDF · 410 pages
Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, trans. N. H. Thomson, Harvard Classics edition, 1910.

About this source

What it is

This is an English translation of Niccolò Machiavelli's The Prince, translated by N. H. Thomson and printed in 1910 as part of the Harvard Classics series alongside works by Thomas More and Martin Luther. This particular library copy, held at Victoria University Library, contains annotations by a later reader.

Why it matters

This edition shows how Machiavelli's work was packaged for English-speaking readers centuries later, placed alongside other foundational texts of political and religious thought. The surviving annotations in this copy show how later readers engaged closely with his ideas, adding their own notes and reactions.

Look closer

  • Why might the publishers have grouped The Prince together with works by Thomas More and Martin Luther?
  • What can a reader's annotations in a book tell us about how they interpreted or questioned the text?
  • How might reading Machiavelli in translation, centuries after he wrote, change how his ideas are understood?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Niccolo Machiavelli on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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