Anti-Machiavel

Anti-Machiavel is an 18th century essay by Frederick the Great, King of Prussia and patron of Voltaire, rebutting The Prince, the 16th century book by Niccolò Machiavelli. It was first published in September 1740, a few months after Frederick became king. Of this work, Voltaire would slyly remark, "If Machiavelli were alive today and an adviser to a Prince, the first thing he would advise him to do would be to publically denounce Machiavelli."

Composition and Publication

The work was produced at a turning point in Frederick's life, after his turbulent and rebellious youth, and immediately before his assumption of the throne of Prussia. Frederick had, of course, read Machiavelli long before; it is not exactly clear what drew his attention to this subject in the late 1730s, although his affiliation with Voltaire and his impending change in rank most certainly contributed to the project. It is known from letters to Voltaire that Frederick began to ruminate on the project early in 1738; his draft of the brief work was completed by the end of 1739.

At this point, Voltaire took over. Living in the Vieille Cour, the Prussian residence in The Hague, and working with a local printer named Van Duren, Voltaire revised the text extensively--so much so, in fact, that the printer decided to publish, in addition to Voltaire's revised edition, a version of the king's original manuscript. There was also a combined edition, with Voltaire's emendations as footnotes.

In the meantime, Frederick had become king, and his authorship--which was a very open secret--made the book an instant success and bestseller. Not surprisingly, Frederick had other matters to occupy his attention, and he did not return to the work in an appreciable way.

Sources

Thomas Carlyle (1865). History of Freidrich II of Prussia, Book 10. Project Gutenberg. March, 2000.

External links

• Introduction to the essay, English translation with some notes on provenance
• Full text of the essay, a different English translation again with some notes on provenance