The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini

From the opening

[Redactor’s Note: This version of the Autobiography, one of the most famous of all time, was translated by John Addington Symonds (1840-1893). Cellini lived from 1500-1571. This version is in ISO Latin1 with 8 bit accents, and is also supplied in a single file HTML version.]

THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write, To thank the God of nature, who conveyed My soul to me, and with such care hath stayed That divers noble deeds I’ve brought to light. ‘Twas He subdued my cruel fortune’s spite: Life glory virtue measureless hath made Such grace worth beauty be through me displayed That few can rival, none surpass me quite. Only it grieves me when I understand What precious time in vanity I’ve spent- The wind it beareth man’s frail thoughts away. Yet, since remorse avails not, I’m content, As erst I came, WELCOME to go one day, Here in the Flower of this fair Tuscan land.

AMONG the vast number of men who have thought fit to write down the history of their own lives, three or four have achieved masterpieces which stand out preeminently: Saint Augustine in his “Confessions,” Samuel Pepys in his “Diary,” Rousseau in his “Confessions.” It is among these extraordinary documents, and unsurpassed by any of them, that the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini takes its place.

The “Life” of himself which Cellini wrote was due to other motives than those which produced its chief competitors for first place in its class. St. Augustine’s aim was religious and didactic, Pepys noted down in his diary the daily events of his life for his sole satisfaction and with no intention that any one should read the cipher in which they were recorded. But Cellini wrote that the world might know, after he was dead, what a fellow he had been; what great things he had attempted, and against what odds he had carried them through.

A short sample. Read the whole book

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