Ciceronian Controversies

by JoAnn DellaNeva, Brian Duvick

Overview

The most important literary dispute of the Renaissance pitted those writers of Neo-Latin who favored imitation of Cicero alone, as the single best exemplar of Latin prose, against those who preferred to follow an eclectic array of literary models. This Ciceronian controversy is the subject of the texts collected for the first time in this volume: exchanges of letters between Angelo Poliziano and Paolo Cortesi; between Gianfrancesco Pico della Mirandola and Pietro Bembo; and between Giovambattista Giraldi Cinzio and his mentor Celio Calcagnini. A postscript by Lilio Gregorio Giraldi and writings by Antonio Possevino comment further on this correspondence.

Because they address some of the most fundamental aspects of literary production, these quarrels shed light on similar debates about vernacular literature, which also turned on imitation and the role of the author. The Ciceronian controversy can also be seen as part of larger cultural movements, such as the choice of vernacular language over Latin, the development of Jesuit pedagogy, and the religious conflicts that characterized much of the Renaissance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674025202
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	04/30/2007
Series:	The I Tatti Renaissance Library , #26
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.75(d)
Language:	Latin

About the Author

JoAnn DellaNeva is Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Notre Dame.

Brian Duvick is an Instructor in Philosophy, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: The Poliziano-Cortesi Exchange (mid-1480s)

1. Letter from Angelo Poliziano to Paolo Cortesi

2. Letter from Paolo Cortesi to Angelo Poliziano

Part II: The Pico-Bembo Exchange (1512/13)

3. Gianfrancesco Pico, On Imitation, to Pietro Bembo

4. Letter from Pietro Bembo to Gianfrancesco Pico

5. Letter from Gianfrancesco Pico to Pietro Bembo

Part III: The Cinzio-Calcagnini-Lilio Exchange (1532/37)

6. Letter from Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio to Celio Calcagnini

7. Letter from Celio Calcagnini to Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio

8. Celio Calcagnini, On Imitation, to Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio

9. Letter from Lilio Gregorio Giraldi to Giambattista Giraldi Cinzio

Part IV: The Possevino Treatises (1593/1603)

10. From the Cicero, On the Technique of Writing Letters: On the Art of Speaking, including Ecclesiastical Speech

11. From the Bibliotheca Selecta, Book 18: On the Art of Composing Letters

Note on the Text and Translation

Notes to the Texts

Notes to the Translation

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

Believe it or not, the central issues of the book still make a worthy claim upon our attention. And this new bilingual edition, edited by JoAnn DellaNeva and translated by Brian Duvick, brings before the public for the first time in one blue volume, as beautifully printed as its 20 predecessors in this series, the most crucial documents in a literary debate that once engaged the finest minds in Europe.

New York Sun - James Gardner

Dellaneva and Duvick’s Ciceronian Controversies in turn offers the major texts from one of the great arguments in Renaissance culture, the one about how a proper Latin style should be developed...As is usual with this series, the texts rely on critical editions established by others and the notes are minimal, what is necessary for an informed first reading. Everything is done to a uniformly high standard, and it is worth pausing for a moment to note that there are now more than twenty-five volumes in this series. That this milestone was reached in only seven years is a remarkable accomplishment.

Neo-Latin News - Craig Kallendorf

Dellaneva and Duvick’s Ciceronian Controversies in turn offers the major texts from one of the great arguments in Renaissance culture, the one about how a proper Latin style should be developed...As is usual with this series, the texts rely on critical editions established by others and the notes are minimal, what is necessary for an informed first reading. Everything is done to a uniformly high standard, and it is worth pausing for a moment to note that there are now more than twenty-five volumes in this series. That this milestone was reached in only seven years is a remarkable accomplishment.
— Craig Kallendorf

Neo-Latin News

Believe it or not, the central issues of the book still make a worthy claim upon our attention. And this new bilingual edition, edited by JoAnn DellaNeva and translated by Brian Duvick, brings before the public for the first time in one blue volume, as beautifully printed as its 20 predecessors in this series, the most crucial documents in a literary debate that once engaged the finest minds in Europe.
— James Gardner

New York Sun