The Wealth of Wives – A Fifteenth–Century Marriage Manual

Barbaro’s work is such an important and influential work on marriage and women that it is surprising that it has not been translated earlier. But the wait was worth it. Margaret King provides a fluent, clear, and accurate translation. Moreover, as a supremely knowledgeable historian on Barbaro, Renaissance women, and Venice, she describes very well the historical circumstances of the work, the context of Renaissance humanism, and Venetian policies and practices. She also provides a great deal of information concerning the diffusion and influence of Barbaro’s work. Scholars will be surprised to learn that Erasmus, Juan Luis Vives, and practically every other Renaissance commentator on women and marriage borrowed from or was influenced by this book. This is a very welcome addition to a distinguished series.

Paul F. Grendler, Professor Emeritus of History, University of Toronto 2014 International Galileo Galilei Prize for Contributions to Italian Scholarship