Overview

Abraham Fraunce's The Shepherds' Logic (c. 1585) is one of the first English adaptations of Petrus Ramus's Dialecticae libri duo (1556). Preserved in a manuscript also containing two shorter essays on Ramist dialectic, the work was later modified and enlarged for publication as The Lawyers' Logic (1588). But Fraunce's substantial and almost exclusive use of Edmund Spenser's The Shepherds' Calendar (1579) as the source for practical examples makes the manuscript treatise a unique document revealing the influence of the Ramist reform of the arts of discourse on the new literary elite led by Philip Sidney and Gabriel Harvey. This is the first published critical edition of Fraunce's early treatise and the two companion essays. It presents the texts in modernized spelling, traces their sources and contexts, and draws out their literary and philosophical implications. It also includes relevant excerpts from The Lawyers' Logic, such as Fraunce's quantitative-verse translation of Virgil's Second Eclogue and its Ramist analysis, and a full catalogue of the quotations from Spenser's Calendar. As a whole, this edition sees Fraunce's pastoral logic as a first-hand testimony showing how scholarly training in the Renaissance arts of discourse enlightened the composition and interpretation of poetic texts. Zenón Luis-Martínez is Senior Lecturer in the English Department at the University of Huelva (Spain), where he teaches medieval and early modern English literature.

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9781781881248

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Reviews

Luis-Martinez gives as rigorous and detailed an account of the work's genesis and immediate context as most readers could possibly wish for, offering much greater precision about Fraunce's sources than earlier studies have been willing or able to provide... Fraunce has found a well-informed and sympathetic editor who can guide readers through what will be, to most, the unappealing thickets of humanistic logic, and direct their attention, instead, to the instructive value of this idiosyncratic Elizabethan voice.' -- Michael Hetherington, Spenser Review 47.1.14, Winter 2017 'Luis-Martinez's introduction not only explains Ramism but also puts Fraunce's project in dialogue with Spenser's 'Shepheardes Calender'.' -- Katherine Eggert, English Literature 57, 2017, 209 'All in all, for the foreseeable future Luis-Marti nez's meticulous, ground-breaking edition will be the obligatory point of departure for all students and scholars with an interest in Fraunce's logical writings, as well as a providing a useful introduction to English Ramism in general. The book is a credit to English Renaissance studies in Spain, and Luis-Marti nez is to be congratulated.' -- Jonathan P. A. Sell, SEDERI 27, 2017, 255-61 'The edition issues a siren call to literary scholars, in particular those working on historical formalism, and literature and education, to probe afresh for potential reciprocity between poetry and logic in England in this period... By making a rationale for reading The Shepherds' Logic not as a poor cousin of Fraunce's later, more famous textbook, but in its own right with its own arguments to make about poetry and logic, and the vernacular, Luis-Marti nez elevates this text to essential reading for those working on English humanism and early modern education and literature more broadly.' -- Emma Annette Wilson, Spanish Journal of English Studies 38, 2017, 139-143 'Many are the reasons why Zeno n Luis-Marti nez's critical edition of Abraham Fraunce's The Shepherds' Logic is a highly valuable contribution to early modern scholarship... As customary with editions published by the MHRA, there is a Textual Notes section at the end of the work to supplement the rich comments of the footnotes that run throughout the text, a final glossary of rare and archaic words, and an updated bibliography.' -- Roci o Gutie rrez Sumillera, Miscela nea 56, 2017, 141-144

Luis-Mart nez gives as rigorous and detailed an account of the work's genesis and immediate context as most readers could possibly wish for, offering much greater precision about Fraunce's sources than earlier studies have been willing or able to provide... Fraunce has found a well-informed and sympathetic editor who can guide readers through what will be, to most, the unappealing thickets of humanistic logic, and direct their attention, instead, to the instructive value of this idiosyncratic Elizabethan voice.' -- Michael Hetherington, Spenser Review 47.1.14, Winter 2017 'Luis-Mart nez's introduction not only explains Ramism but also puts Fraunce's project in dialogue with Spenser's 'Shepheardes Calender'.' -- Katherine Eggert, English Literature 57, 2017, 209 'All in all, for the foreseeable future Luis-Marti nez's meticulous, ground-breaking edition will be the obligatory point of departure for all students and scholars with an interest in Fraunce's logical writings, as well as a providing a useful introduction to English Ramism in general. The book is a credit to English Renaissance studies in Spain, and Luis-Marti nez is to be congratulated.' -- Jonathan P. A. Sell, SEDERI 27, 2017, 255-61 'The edition issues a siren call to literary scholars, in particular those working on historical formalism, and literature and education, to probe afresh for potential reciprocity between poetry and logic in England in this period... By making a rationale for reading The Shepherds' Logic not as a poor cousin of Fraunce's later, more famous textbook, but in its own right with its own arguments to make about poetry and logic, and the vernacular, Luis-Marti nez elevates this text to essential reading for those working on English humanism and early modern education and literature more broadly.' -- Emma Annette Wilson, Spanish Journal of English Studies 38, 2017, 139-143 'Many are the reasons why Zeno n Luis-Marti nez's critical edition of Abraham Fraunce's The Shepherds' Logic is a highly valuable contribution to early modern scholarship... As customary with editions published by the MHRA, there is a Textual Notes section at the end of the work to supplement the rich comments of the footnotes that run throughout the text, a final glossary of rare and archaic words, and an updated bibliography.' -- Roci o Gutie rrez Sumillera, Miscela nea 56, 2017, 141-144

Luis-Martinez gives as rigorous and detailed an account of the work's genesis and immediate context as most readers could possibly wish for, offering much greater precision about Fraunce's sources than earlier studies have been willing or able to provide... Fraunce has found a well-informed and sympathetic editor who can guide readers through what will be, to most, the unappealing thickets of humanistic logic, and direct their attention, instead, to the instructive value of this idiosyncratic Elizabethan voice.' -- Michael Hetherington, Spenser Review 47.1.14, Winter 2017'Luis-Martinez's introduction not only explains Ramism but also puts Fraunce's project in dialogue with Spenser's 'Shepheardes Calender'.' -- Katherine Eggert, English Literature 57, 2017, 209'All in all, for the foreseeable future Luis-MartiÌ nez's meticulous, ground-breaking edition will be the obligatory point of departure for all students and scholars with an interest in Fraunce's logical writings, as well as a providing a useful introduction to English Ramism in general. The book is a credit to English Renaissance studies in Spain, and Luis-MartiÌ nez is to be congratulated.' -- Jonathan P. A. Sell, SEDERI 27, 2017, 255-61'The edition issues a siren call to literary scholars, in particular those working on historical formalism, and literature and education, to probe afresh for potential reciprocity between poetry and logic in England in this period... By making a rationale for reading The Shepherds' Logic not as a poor cousin of Fraunce's later, more famous textbook, but in its own right with its own arguments to make about poetry and logic, and the vernacular, Luis-MartiÌ nez elevates this text to essential reading for those working on English humanism and early modern education and literature more broadly.' -- Emma Annette Wilson, Spanish Journal of English Studies 38, 2017, 139-143'Many are the reasons why ZenoÌ n Luis-MartiÌ nez's critical edition of Abraham Fraunce's The Shepherds' Logic is a highly valuable contribution to early modern scholarship... As customary with editions published by the MHRA, there is a Textual Notes section at the end of the work to supplement the rich comments of the footnotes that run throughout the text, a final glossary of rare and archaic words, and an updated bibliography.' -- RociÌ o GutieÌ rrez Sumillera, MiscelaÌ nea 56, 2017, 141-144

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