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The aim of this paper is to publish an unknown Machiavellian autograph, which can be assigned to a crucial moment in the life of Machiavelli as well as in the history of Florence: the days which followed the return of the Medici into town and the dismissal of the popular regime. In late August 1512, as a consequence of the fall of the Tuscan small town of Prato under siege by the Spanish troops of the Holy League, Pier Soderini, who had led the popular government since 1502, left the city. In mid-September, Machiavelli – who had served as Secretary in the chancery since 1498, but was about to be dismissed from his office by the Medici – wrote by his own hand a proposal for a constitutional reform. This proposal intended, first of all, to preserve the liberty of the city, by preventing the suppression of the Great Council by the Medici as well as by finding a compromise with the aristocratic faction, which was temporarily leading the new administration.