Anti-Machiavel
Frederick the Great's 1740 rebuttal of Machiavelli's The Prince, published anonymously by Voltaire. The royal authorship was an open secret from the start.
- Original byline
- Anonymous
- Published
- Date not recorded
- Form
- Essays
- Authorship
- Revealed: Frederick II of Prussia
- Attribution source
- Wikidata P50 (Q577727); Wikipedia note
- Revealed
- 1740, authorship an open secret from publication; Voltaire edited and published it
- Reason for anonymity
- Unrecorded
- Copyright
- Public domain
- Reference
- Wikipedia · Wikidata
The authorship story
Anti-Machiavel is a chapter by chapter refutation of The Prince, written by Frederick of Prussia shortly before he took the throne and seen through the press in 1740 by Voltaire, who edited and published it in The Hague. It appeared without the royal name, but the authorship was an open secret in European letters almost immediately. The anonymity was a matter of decorum rather than concealment: a crown prince could not conveniently sign a philosophical manifesto. The irony that its author became a byword for realpolitik has been noted ever since.
Questions readers ask
Who wrote Anti-Machiavel?
Anti-Machiavel was published anonymously and is documented as the work of Frederick II of Prussia. The authorship became public in 1740 (authorship an open secret from publication; Voltaire edited and published it). Source: Wikidata P50 (Q577727); Wikipedia note.
Can I read Anti-Machiavel for free?
Yes. Anti-Machiavel is in the public domain and the full text is free to read at the Internet Archive.
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