Epistola Erudita of Justus Lipsius
Epistola Erudita of Justus Lipsius
Author(s): Wojciech RyczekContributor(s): Kaja Szymańska (Translator)
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, 16th Century, 17th Century, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Lipsius; Adreas Schoen; ars epistolandi; rhetoric;
Summary/Abstract: This paper presents (in the form of transcription and translation of the text) a letter written by a humanist and classical scholar, Iustus Lipsius (1547–1606), and entitled by its editor in Cracow Epistola erudita (1602). The rhetorical analysis of this text is based on Lipsius’ treatise Epistolica institutio (The Principles of Letter-Writing). The main problem concerns the role of traditional rhetoric in epistolography, especially if the letter is not reduced to a formal document built of template formulas. Early modern epistolography (Petrarca, Erasmus, Lipsius, Vives) recovers the ancient tradition of writing letters, according to which a letter is a kind of written conversation. It gives the sender and the addressee a unique opportunity to meet each other in the symbolic universe of the text.
Journal: TERMINUS
- Issue Year: 21/2019
- Issue No: Sp. Iss. 2
- Page Range: 219-235
- Page Count: 17
- Language: English
