Classics, Medieval & Renaissance 2012 - University of Toronto ...

ERASMUS
NEW
The Correspondence of Erasmus
Letters 1926–2081
Translated by Charles Fantazzi
Annotated by James M. Estes
The predominant theme of the letters of 1528 is
Erasmus’ controversies with a variety of critics and
opponents. The publication in March of the dialogue
Ciceronianus, for example, provoked a huge uproar
in France because it included an ironic jest that was
considered insulting; more serious were the
continuing efforts of conservative Catholics in
France, Italy, and to prove not only that Erasmus was
a secret Lutheran but also that humanist scholarship
was the source of the Lutheran heresy.
In response to these charges, Erasmus wrote
letters and books in which he vigorously defended
his orthodoxy and assiduously cultivated the support
of his many admirers among the princes and prelates
of Europe. The letters also record Erasmus’ growing
anxiety over the progress of the Reformation in
Basel, his diligent attention to his financial affairs,
and his progress on the great editions of Augustine
and Seneca that would be published in 1529.
(Collected Works of Erasmus 14)
624 pp / 25 illustrations / 6 ¾ x 9 ¾ / 2011
Cloth 978-1-4426-4044-3 $175.00 (£122.99)
Expositions of the Psalms
Edited by Dominic Baker -Smith
This third and final volume of the Expositions of the
Psalms comprises Erasmus’ commentary on Psalms
14, 38, and 83. Dating from the final years of Erasmus’
life, the commentaries reflect his later thoughts on
the great crisis facing western Christendom.
These three expositions, written during the early
1530s, address a number of contentious issues
within the Church and attempt to reconcile the
warring factions of the Reformation. Erasmus’
characteristic emphasis on the inner experience of
faith, rather than rigid outward conformity to religious
dogma, allowed him to be receptive to the insights
of reform while refusing to compromise on the
essentials of Christian doctrine. By stressing the
subjective experience at the heart of spiritual practice,
he sought to reduce the tension of institutional
conflict. The volume includes the first published
English translation of the exposition of Psalm 38
and, since 1537, of Psalm 14.
Dominic Baker-Smith is professor emeritus of
English Literature at the University of Amsterdam.
(Collected Works of Erasmus 65)
352 pp / 3 illustrations / 6 ¾ x 9 ¾ / 2010
Cloth 978-0-8020-9979-2 $110.00 (£76.99)
NEW
The Unfolding of Words
Commentary in the Age of Erasmus
Edited by Judith Rice Henderson
Leading sixteenth-century scholars such as Martin
Luther and Desiderius Erasmus used print technology
to engage in dialogue and debate with authoritative
contemporary texts. By what Juan Luis Vives termed
‘the unfolding of words,’ these humanists gave old
works new meanings in brief notes and extensive
commentaries, full paraphrases, or translations. This
critique challenged the Middle Ages deference to
authors and authorship and resulted in some of the
most original thought – and most violent controversy
– of the Renaissance and Reformation.
The Unfolding of Words brings together international
scholarship to explore crucial changes in writers’
interactions with religious and classical texts. This
collection focuses particularly on commentaries by
Erasmus, contextualizing his Annotations and
Paraphrases on the New Testament against broader
currents and works by such contemporaries as
François Rabelais and Jodocus Badius. The Unfolding
of Words tracks humanist explorations of the
possibilities of the page that led to the modern
dictionary, encyclopedia, and scholarly edition.
Judith Rice Henderson is a professor in the Department
of English and is active in the Classical,
Medieval, and Renaissance Studies Program at the
University of Saskatchewan.
(Erasmus Studies)
Approx. 272 pp / 16 illustrations / 5 ¾ x 9 / July 2012
Cloth 978-1-4426-4337-6 $65.00 (£42.99)
14 University of Toronto Press