Thomas Newton, Four Treatises by Cicero
Discourses on Friendship; Old Age; Paradoxes, and Scipio’s Dream (1577)
Edited by Mandy Green
Booksellers & libraries: | Tudor and Stuart Translations 25 Modern Humanities Research Association
ISBN: 978-1-781886-27-4 (hardback) • RRP £44.99, $61.99, €53.99 ISBN: 978-1-781886-28-1 (paperback) • RRP £24.99, $34.99, €29.99 ISBN: 978-1-781886-29-8 (JSTOR ebook) RenaissanceEnglishTranslationPhilosophy The Roman orator, lawyer, statesman and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero (‘Tully’) was undoubtedly a central figure in the Tudor Renaissance, a time characterised by a renewed appreciation of the legacy of classical antiquity and a general reorientation of Christian culture towards the classical past. Cicero became an exceptionally influential figure during this period, reaching the height of his popularity in the reign of Elizabeth when he rapidly became one of the most frequently published, and one of the most frequently translated classical authors. The sixteenth century witnessed a steep increase in the availability of printed editions of his works. Fifty-eight of the sixty-seven editions were published in the second half of the century, and just over a third of those published in Elizabeth’s reign were either English translations or were Latin texts accompanied by English translations. Universally admired as a superb stylist, his reputation for eloquence was unparalleled: Thomas Newton had acclaimed him as ‘that incomparable Phenix of al eloquence among al that ever wrate either before or since his dayes’. However, Cicero was admired not only for the elegance and rhetorical power of his prose works, but also for their content, since his works of moral philosophy were easily harmonised with Christian ethics. Mandy Green is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English Studies at the University of Durham. Her research interests centre on classical presences in English literature.
Bibliography entry: Green, Mandy (ed.), Thomas Newton, Four Treatises by Cicero: Discourses on Friendship; Old Age; Paradoxes, and Scipio’s Dream (1577), Tudor and Stuart Translations, 25 (MHRA, 2027) First footnote reference: 35 Thomas Newton, Four Treatises by Cicero: Discourses on Friendship; Old Age; Paradoxes, and Scipio’s Dream (1577), ed. by Mandy Green, Tudor and Stuart Translations, 25 (MHRA, 2027), p. 21. Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Green, p. 47. (To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.) Bibliography entry: Green, Mandy (ed.). 2027. Thomas Newton, Four Treatises by Cicero: Discourses on Friendship; Old Age; Paradoxes, and Scipio’s Dream (1577), Tudor and Stuart Translations, 25 (MHRA) Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Green 2027: 21). Example footnote reference: 35 Green 2027: 21. (To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.) Permanent link to this title: www.mhra.org.uk/publications/Thomas-Newton-Four-Treatises-by-Cicero www.mhra.org.uk/publications/tst-25 |
Winter 2027