The reception of Italian neo-Latin poetry in English manuscript sources, c.1550-1720: literature, morality, and anti-popery

Abstract

This essay presents a preliminary overview of the presence of, and engagement with, Italian neo-Latin poetry in a large corpus of English manuscript sources dating from between c.1550 and c.1720 and currently conserved in English libraries and archives. Italian neo-Latin verse circulated widely in these manuscripts, where it was, however, subject to a process of selective cultural appropriation. The moralising intent of several manuscript miscellanies, and of commonplace books in particular, especially encouraged the quotation of brief poetic extracts, selected because of their edifying potential. Moreover, the availability of printed anthologies, school texts, and editions enabled different levels of familiarity with individual Italian poets: Mantuan and Palingenius, for example, are well-represented in early modern manuscripts as they were in the contemporary English school curriculum. Overall, the manuscript collectors’ selective redeployment of the Italian neo-Latin tradition particularly emphasises its anti-Papal potential, in line with the collectors’ generally Protestant views.

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