unscrupulously incorporating all that was valuable in Condivi's work,
and adding thereto many reminiscences of the master's life. The fame
of Vasari's monumental work caused Condivi's little book to be
entirely forgotten for long years, and it has been one of the tasks of
modern scholarship to restore it to its true place. Even now, however,
there is no available form of Condivi's biography for American
readers, though Vasari's "Lives" in Mrs. Foster's translation is found
in most libraries. The latest edition of Vasari, published in 1897,
contains annotations by Mr. and Mrs. E.H. Blashfield, and A.A.
Hopkins, which correct all the statements in the light of recent
authorities.

Far more valuable even than the early biographies is the mass of
existing documents of the Buonarotti family, including contracts,
letters, poems, and memoranda, and containing data for a full and
exact biography of the master. Unfortunately, however, this great
storehouse of material has been for all these centuries a sealed
treasure, given up only little by little, to successive generations of
scholars. When Hermann Grimm wrote his celebrated "Life of Michael
Angelo" (in 1860), the only original material accessible to him was
the collection of letters in the British Museum. His volumes are still
read with interest and profit, though it is to be regretted that they
should be reprinted without any editorial comments to connect formerly
received opinions with later conclusions. John S. Harford's "Life of
Michael Angelo Buonarotti" was published at about the same time as
Grimm's work, that is, in 1857. It was in two volumes, and contained
translations of many of Michelangelo's poems, as well as material
about Savonarola, Vittoria Colonna, and Raphael. The work is found in
the older libraries, and is well worth studying, as the latter portion
is still valuable for all that refers to the architecture of St.