The translation which Hoby wrote was largely faithful to the original. However, the manner in which its content was presented was subtly different. Whereas Castiglione’s work was simply Il libro del cortegiano, Hoby’s English translation had the additional subtitle ‘Very necessary and profitatable [sic] for yonge gentilmen and gentilwomen abiding in court’. This emphasis on the practical applications of the work is apparent in other parts of this edition. At the end of the book, following the translation of Castigione’s work, there a summary of the ‘chiefe conditions and qualities’ of the courtier and his lady. This addition, which was probably the work of the publisher, William Seres, rather than Hoby himself, would have made the work more attractive to readers who simply wanted to be told how to behave. However, whilst its inclusion may well have been a sound commercial decision, its effect is to undercut the discursive, open-ended subtlety of the original, and instead to create something more akin to a conduct book.

This instrumental view of the text was evidently shared by other readers. In his famous educational treatise, The Scholemaster (1570), Roger Ascham writes:

‘To ioyne learnyng with cumlie exercises, Conto Baldesaer Castiglione in his booke, Cortegiano, doth trimlie teach, whiche booke, advisedlie read, and diligentlie folowed, but one year at home in Englande, woulde do a yong ientleman more good, I wisse, then three yeares travell abrode spent in Italie. And I mervell this booke is no more read in the Court, than it is, seying it so well translated into English by a worthie Ientleman Syr Th. Hobbie, who was in many wayes well furnished with learnyng, and very expert in knowledge of divers tonges.’

Ascham presents the Libro del cortegiano as a preferable alternative to lengthy foreign travel, but his remarks seem to overlook the fact that Hoby, whose translation he praises, had perfected his command of Italian by spending an extended period of time in Italy.

Thomas Hoby (trans.), The Courtyer of Count Baldessar Castilio (London: William Seres, 1561), title page. Cambridge University Library, LE.6.88.