Per un'interpretazione evolutiva del pensiero di Guicciardini : a partire da una nuova edizione dei Ricordi

In this review article I argue that in recent years scholarship on Guicciardini has not concentrated enough on the evolution of his thought over time, and I sketch the outlines of a research program aimed at providing a more well-rounded account of Guicciardini's intellectual biography. I start by reviewing a recent edition of the Ricordi: I first provide a commentary on the innovative philological choices made by the editors, and then highlight their historiographic implications. In the second half of the paper, I suggest that these innovations could be the starting point for developing what I propose to call an ‘evolutionary interpretation' of Guicciardini's thought, i.e., one that assumes that Guicciardini's positions changed over time and that these changes should be explained by accurately contextualizing each of his works. I conclude by providing historical and methodological reasons in favor of adopting this evolutionary approach. [Publisher's text]