Cellini composed his memoirs between 1558 and 1566. The original manuscript, partly in his own hand and partly dictated to his apprentice (which may explain its extremely vivid and revealing style), is held in the Laurentian Library in Florence. Cellini initially intended to publish his manuscript and consulted Benedetto Varchi about it, but the project never materialized, largely because the account of Cellini's quarrel with Cosimo de' Medici made the work cumbersome. The memoirs were brought to light in the 18th century by the naturalist Antonio Cocci, who had them published under a false printing location, which was also repeated in the second edition.

Cicognara 2231 and 2232.