For the historian his book is of equal value in its own department with the Principe of Machiavelli, the Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, and the Diary of Burchard.
[1] It was written in 1514, and first published in folio by the Aldi of Venice in 1528.

We find an English translation so early as 1561 by Thomas Hoby.

At this time it was in the hands of all the gentlefolk of Europe.

It is interesting to compare the 'Cortegiano' with Della Casa's 'Galateo,' published in 1558.

The 'Galateo' professes to be a guide for gentlemen in social intercourse, and the minute rules laid down would satisfy the most exacting purist of the present century.