An Anthology of British Neo-Latin Literature

Abstract

Neo-Latin as a literary mediumThe composition of works in Latin prose and verse formed a major part of literary production in Britain between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries; the number of works written in Latin during this period should not be underestimated, though it is difficult to provide precise figures as these works are now spread across the world and are not always easily accessible. The authors of this vast body of material include some of the most celebrated names in english literature, for instance sir Thomas more, Francis Bacon, John milton and George Herbert, as well as a host of lesser-known figures. No serious study of literary culture in Britain during this period can afford to neglect the Latin output of poets, prose-writers and playwrights, much of which is accomplished and enjoyable literature in its own right. This volume aims to give an impression of the range and quality of British Neo-Latin writing over the course of these centuries, by presenting a selection of examples that, between them, encompass a variety of literary genres, many different subjects and an assortment of local and historical circumstances.Why did British authors choose to express themselves and to address their readers in a language and in literary forms inherited from ancient rome, rather than (or as well as) in other forms of expression available to them? There are several reasons, any number of which may have been applicable in any particular instance. one is a desire for durability: for much of this period, the triumph of the vernacular, which with hindsight may seem so inevitable, must have appeared far from a foregone conclusion. Literary ventures in english, French and italian, for example, however distinguished, had yet to stand the test of time, whereas the creative achievements of classical antiquity had already endured for a millennium and a half, seemingly offering a ringing endorsement of Horace's claim to have produced 'a monument more lasting than bronze' (monumentum aere perennius, Odes 3.30.1), of Virgil's promise to confer poetic immortality on the subjects of his epic (Aeneid 9.446-9) and of ovid's defiant prediction of his continuing survival despite the ravages of introduction