Overview

Throughout the early modern period, political theorists in France and England drew on the works of Plutarch to offer advice to kings and princes. Elizabeth I herself translated Plutarch in her later years, while Jacques Amyot's famous translations of Plutarch's The Parallel Lives led to the wide distribution of his work and served as a key resource for Shakespeare in the writing of his Roman plays, through Sir Thomas North's English translations. Rebecca Kingston's new study explores how Plutarch was translated into French and English during the Renaissance and how his works were invoked in political argument from the early modern period into the 18th century, contributing to a tradition she calls 'public humanism'. This book then traces the shifting uses of Plutarch in the Enlightenment, leading to the decline of this tradition of 'public humanism'. Throughout, the importance of Plutarch's work is highlighted as a key cultural reference and for its insight into important aspects of public service.

Full Product Details

Author:   Rebecca Kingston (University of Toronto)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.80cm , Height: 2.80cm , Length: 23.60cm
Weight:   0.816kg
ISBN:  

9781009243483

ISBN 10:   1009243489
Pages:   400
Publication Date:   29 September 2022
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. Setting the Stage: 1. A brief introduction to Plutarch and a comparison of Cicero and Plutarch on public ethics; 2. The secret history of Plutarch (and the history of Pseudo-Plutarch) and a brief account of reception in renaissance Italy; Part II. 3. Plutarch in early French renaissance public humanism: Geoffroy Tory and Guillaume Budé; 4. Plutarch in early French renaissance public humanism: Desiderius Erasmus and Claude de Seyssel; 5. Tudor Plutarch; 6. Plutarch in later French humanism and reformation: Georges de Selve, Jacques Amyot and Jean Bodin; 7. Bernard de Girard Du Haillan and Michel de Montaigne on thinking through the public good in a time of civil discord; Part III. 8. Shedding new light on Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan (1651); 9. Plutarch on stage: Shakespeare, Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine; 10. Plutarch in the long eighteenth century with a focus on British and Irish political thought; 11. Plutarch in French enlightenment thought: the Abbé de Saint-Pierre, the Abbé Mably and Jean-Jacques Rousseau; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Reviews

'Kingston's book valuably highlights the importance of the reception of Plutarch for the history of political ideas, and will no doubt spark further studies developing her suggestions about the significance of his works for the early modern theory of politics.' Fred Schurink, Translation and Literature 'The subject of this impressive book can be stated concisely: it examines the reception of the writings of Plutarch (around 45-120 CE) in France and England from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. ... A reader of this book cannot help but come away with a deeper appreciation for how exceptionally important Plutarch was for the development of modern thought in France and England.' Vickie Sullivan, Perspectives on Politics

Author Information

Rebeca Kingston is Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto. She is the recipient of three Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada grants, and has been awarded research fellowships at Clare Hall, Cambridge, the Bodleian Library Centre for the Study of the Book, and the Jackman Institute for the Humanities at the University of Toronto. She is the author of Montesquieu and the Parlement of Bordeaux (1996), which was awarded the Prix Montesquieu by the Société Montesquieu, and Public Passion: Rethinking the Grounds for Political Justice (2011). She is editing the forthcoming Plutarch: Selected Writings, with the translator Elizabeth Sawyer for the series 'Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought'.

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