Publications by Type: Book

2023
Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy: The Virtuous Republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena
Hankins J. Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy: The Virtuous Republic of Francesco Patrizi of Siena. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2023 pp. 448. Publisher's VersionAbstract


The first full-length study of Francesco Patrizi—the most important political philosopher of the Italian Renaissance before Machiavelli—who sought to reconcile conflicting claims of liberty and equality in the service of good governance.

At the heart of the Italian Renaissance was a longing to recapture the wisdom and virtue of Greece and Rome. But how could this be done? A new school of social reformers concluded that the best way to revitalize corrupt institutions was to promote an ambitious new form of political meritocracy aimed at nurturing virtuous citizens and political leaders.

The greatest thinker in this tradition of virtue politics was Francesco Patrizi of Siena, a humanist philosopher whose writings were once as famous as Machiavelli’s. Patrizi wrote two major works: On Founding Republics, addressing the enduring question of how to reconcile republican liberty with the principle of merit; and On Kingship and the Education of Kings, which lays out a detailed program of education designed to instill the qualities necessary for political leadership—above all, practical wisdom and sound character.

The first full-length study of Patrizi’s life and thought in any language, Political Meritocracy in Renaissance Italy argues that Patrizi is a thinker with profound lessons for our time. A pioneering advocate of universal literacy who believed urban planning could help shape civic values, he concluded that limiting the political power of the wealthy, protecting the poor from debt slavery, and reducing the political independence of the clergy were essential to a functioning society. These ideas were radical in his day. Far more than an exemplar of his time, Patrizi deserves to rank alongside the great political thinkers of the Renaissance: Machiavelli, Thomas More, and Jean Bodin.

2020
The Loeb Classical Library and Its Progeny: Proceedings of the First James Loeb Biennial Conference, Munich and Murnau 18-20 May 2017.
Hankins J, Pollock S, Ziolkowski JM. The Loeb Classical Library and Its Progeny: Proceedings of the First James Loeb Biennial Conference, Munich and Murnau 18-20 May 2017. (and Thomas JHRF). Harvard University Press; 2020.
Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum. Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries. Annotated Lists and Guides.
Julia Haig Gaisser AE, James Hankins AE. Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum. Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries. Annotated Lists and Guides. Volume XIII. (Greti Dinkova-Bruun E). Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Press; 2020 pp. 364. Publisher's Version
2019
Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy
Hankins J. Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University; 2019 pp. 736. Publisher's Version
2016
Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum: Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries, Volume XI
Dinkova-Bruum G, Julia Haig Gaisser AE, James Hankins AE ed. Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum: Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries, Volume XI. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Press; 2016 pp. 416. Publisher's Version
2014
Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum: Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries, Volume X
Greti Dinkova-Bruun E, Julia Haig AE, James Hankins AE, Robert A. Kaster AE ed. Catalogus Translationum et Commentariorum: Medieval and Renaissance Latin Translations and Commentaries, Volume X. xxxiv . Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies Press; 2014 pp. 403. Publisher's Version
Autografi dei Letterati Italiani, Il Quattrocento, Tomo 1
Bausi F, Campanelli M, Gentile S, Hankins J ed. Autografi dei Letterati Italiani, Il Quattrocento, Tomo 1. XV. Rome: Salerno; 2014 pp. 484.
2011
Marsilio Ficino: Teologia Platonica [Latin text by James Hankins]
Vitale E ed. Marsilio Ficino: Teologia Platonica [Latin text by James Hankins]. Milan: Bompiano; 2011 pp. 2049.
2007
Bruni L. Epistolarum libri VIII recensente Laurentio Mehus. (Hankins J).; 2007.
History of the Florentine People, vol 3: Books IX-XII. Memoirs
Bruni L. History of the Florentine People, vol 3: Books IX-XII. Memoirs. (Hankins J, Bradley DJW). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2007. Publisher's Version
The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Philosophy
Hankins J. The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Philosophy. (Hankins J). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2007. Publisher's Version
2006
Ficino M. Platonic Theology, vol. 6, Books XVII-XVIII
Hankins J, Allen MJB. Ficino M. Platonic Theology, vol. 6, Books XVII-XVIII. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2006. Publisher's Version
2005
Platonic Theology, Books XV-XVI
Ficino M. Platonic Theology, Books XV-XVI. (Hankins J, Bowen W). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2005. Publisher's Version
2004
Short Epics
Vegio M. Short Epics. (Putnam MCJ, Hankins J). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2004. Publisher's Version
Platonic Theology, Books XII-XIV
Ficino M. Platonic Theology, Books XII-XIV. (Hankins J, Bowen W). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2004. Publisher's Version
Hankins J. Humanism and Platonism in the Italian Renaissance.; 2004.
History of the Florentine People, vol. 2: Books V-VIII
Bruni L. History of the Florentine People, vol. 2: Books V-VIII. (Hankins J). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2004. Publisher's Version

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