ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Il Libro del Cortegiano or The Book of The Courtier was written by Count Baldassare Castiglione (1478–1529), and was first published in vernacular Italian in 1528.

Detailed explanation-2: -Baldassare Castiglione, (born December 6, 1478, Casatico, near Mantua [Italy]-died February 2, 1529, Toledo [Spain]), Italian courtier, diplomat, and writer best known for his dialogue Il libro del cortegiano (1528; The Book of the Courtier).

Detailed explanation-3: -The reputation of Baldassarre Castiglione (b. 1478–d. 1529) rests on a single work, The Book of the Courtier, published in 1528. It was widely acclaimed and served as a model for civilized and polished behavior, both during the Renaissance and afterward.

Detailed explanation-4: -Castiglione’s classical learning is deftly blended into the polite conversation of the courtiers and their ladies. His arguments in favor of literature are derived from those of Cicero in Pro Archia, and his description of the ideal courtier is strongly influenced by Cicero’s Deoratore.

Detailed explanation-5: -Baldassare Castiglione published this book with the intention of chronicling the manners, customs and traditions which underpinned how courtiers, nobles, and their servants, behaved. Although ostensibly a book of etiquette and good conduct, Castiglione’s treatise carries enormous historical value.