Thomas Elyot: Critical Editions of Four Works on Counsel: The Doctrinal of Princes, Pasquill the Playne, of That Knowlage Whiche Maketh a Wise Man, an

By G. Robert Sullivan

This volume provides the first modern scholarly editions of four works on the rhetoric of counsel by Sir Thomas Elyot (1490-1546), humanist scholar and advisor to Henry VIII of England. The Doctrinal of Princes, a translation of Isocrates' To Nicocles, and probably the earliest English book translated directly from Greek into English, consists of a collection of aphorisms, all advising moderation, addressed to monarchs. Pasquill the Playne, the first English pasquinade, is a comic dialogue on the ethical challenges involved in counseling a prince. Of That Knowledge Which Maketh a Wise Man is a direct imitation of a Platonic dialogue, in which Plato's confrontation with the Sicilian tyrant Dionysius is given dramatic form. A third dialogue, The Defense of Good Women, is the first printed English book that argues for the moral and political equality of women to men. Included in the volume are a general introduction to Elyot's life and political career, extensive critical introductions to each of the texts, full recordings of the variations between printed editions, and substantive notes.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9004365109
• ISBN13: 9789004365100
• Release Date: June 2018
• Publisher: Brill
• Length: 420 Pages
• Weight: 1.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.3"