no one has taken in hand to write _The Tragedies of the Medici_. My
attention was first directed to the omission during the preparation of
my _Guilds of Florence_, published in 1906; and I determined to address
myself to the forging of that lurid link in the catena of Florentine
romance.

In the following pages my readers will see that I have entirely departed
from the conventional conceits of the ordinary historian. I have sought
to set out the whole truth--not a garbled version--whilst I have
fearlessly added decorative features where facts were absent or were
too prosaic.

The short "Introduction," dealing with the rise and progress of the
house of Medici, will be useful to my public, and the "Chart of the
Tragedies" will assist students and others in their appreciation of my
enterprise--it is my own compilation and as complete as possible.

The "Bibliography" will help serious readers to a wider reading of my
authorities, and the Illustrations--the best procurable--will fix in all
my readers' minds something of the actual personalities of my "Tyrants"
and my "Victims."

EDGCUMBE STALEY.



CONTENTS


PREFACE