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Document Details : Title: Epistolae selectae et Epistolae brevioris Subtitle: Anthologies érasmiennes à usage scolaire dans les années 1520 Author(s): BÉNÉVENT, Christine Journal: Humanistica Lovaniensia Volume: 72 Date: 2023 Pages: 51-72 DOI: 10.2143/HLO.72.0.3292710 Abstract : This contribution looks at the vast nebula of epistolary collections published between 1520 and 1561 without the knowledge of their author, Erasmus. These were collections for school use, and their dissemination was undoubtedly considerable. To date, some fifty different editions have been counted across Europe: some are known today only through copies considered to be unique, or even through no surviving copies at all, and it has not been easy to locate them. The origins of these school editions are well known: the Epistolae aliquot selectae, first published in Leuven in December 1520 by Adrianus Barlandus, were reprinted at least twelve times in the sixteenth century and inspired numerous publishers. Two Parisian collections, also republished several times, were clearly derived from them, even though the number of letters included in them was doubled. But we have also been able to identify a host of lesser-known initiatives, some of which predate Barlandus's anthology. This initial survey suggests some promising avenues for understanding how Erasmus the letter-writer became a classic. |
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