Plutarch's Prism: Classical Reception and Public Humanism in France and England, 1500–1800 (Ideas in Context, Series Number 142)

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. Cover Half-title page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents List of Figures Preface Acknowledgements Introduction Part I Setting the Stage Chapter 1 A Brief Introduction to Plutarch and a Comparison of Cicero and Plutarch on Public Ethics Chapter 2 The Secret History of Plutarch (and the History of Pseudo-Plutarch) and a Brief Account of Reception in Renaissance Italy Part II Plutarch in Renaissance France and England Chapter 3 Plutarch in Early French Renaissance Public Humanism: Geoffroy Tory and Guillaume Budé Chapter 4 Plutarch in Early French Renaissance Public Humanism: Desiderius Erasmus and Claude de Seyssel Chapter 5 Tudor Plutarch Chapter 6 Plutarch in Later French Humanism and Reformation: Georges de Selve, Jacques Amyot and Jean Bodin Chapter 7 Bernard de Girard Du Haillan and Michel de Montaigne on Thinking Through the Public Good in a Time of Civil Discord Part III Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Plutarch Chapter 8 Shedding New Light on Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan (1651) Chapter 9 Plutarch on Stage: Shakespeare, Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine Chapter 10 Plutarch in the Long Eighteenth Century with a Focus on British and Irish Political Thought Chapter 11 Plutarch in French Enlightenment Thought: The Abbé de Saint-Pierre, the Abbé Mably and Jean-Jacques Rousseau Conclusion Bibliography Index "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 eighteenth century, contributing to a tradition she calls 'public humanism.' This book 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"-- Provided by publisher