Lucan in English culture, ca 1589-1630

• Main Author: Paleit, Edward J.
• Published: Birkbeck (University of London) 2008
• Subjects: 820.9003
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.498522

This is a study into literary and other responses to the Latin poet Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, 39-65 AD) and his narrative of the Roman civil wars, now called the Bellum Ciuile, in English culture between approximately 1589 and 1630. Chapter One introduces Lucan's as a Renaissance text and explains the study's overall aims, methodology and principles. Part I examines the reading contexts and practices shaping responses to Lucan during the period. It investigates his position in the humanist education system (Chapter Two) and the nature and consequences of theoretical disputes over his generic status (Chapter Three). Part II offers detailed studies of individual readings. Chapter Four examines the translation of Lucan by Arthur Gorges (1614), Chapter Five the Latin commentary of Thomas Famaby (1618), and Chapter Six Thomas May's translation of Lucan (1626 to 1627) and his tragedy Cleopatra (1626), a play heavily dependent on the Bellum Ciuile. Chapter Seven discusses 'Caesarist readers' who responded chiefly to Lucan's portrait of Julius Caesar, focusing on Christopher Marlowe's translation of the first book (uncertain in date) and the Observations upon Caesars Commentaries by Clement Edmundes (published 1600-1609). Chapter Eight, the last, summarises the study's findings.