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The Republic of Letters
A provocative exploration of intellectual exchange across four centuries of European history by the author of When the World Spoke French
In this fascinating study, preeminent historian Marc Fumaroli reveals how an imagined “republic” of ideas and interchange fostered the Italian Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. He follows exchanges among Petrarch, Erasmus, Descartes, Montaigne, and others from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, through revolutions in culture and society. Via revealing portraits and analysis, Fumaroli traces intellectual currents engaged with the core question of how to live a moral life—and argues that these men of letters provide an example of the exchange of knowledge and ideas that is worthy of emulation in our own time. Combining scholarship, wit, and reverence, this thought-provoking volume represents the culmination of a lifetime of scholarship.
In this fascinating study, preeminent historian Marc Fumaroli reveals how an imagined “republic” of ideas and interchange fostered the Italian Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. He follows exchanges among Petrarch, Erasmus, Descartes, Montaigne, and others from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, through revolutions in culture and society. Via revealing portraits and analysis, Fumaroli traces intellectual currents engaged with the core question of how to live a moral life—and argues that these men of letters provide an example of the exchange of knowledge and ideas that is worthy of emulation in our own time. Combining scholarship, wit, and reverence, this thought-provoking volume represents the culmination of a lifetime of scholarship.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2008
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About the author
Marc Fumaroli
101 books14 followersMarc Fumaroli was a scholar of French classical rhetoric and art. He is acknowledged for the revival of Rhetoric as field of study of European culture, in a sharp move away from both structuralism and post-modernism.
He was born in metropolitan France, in Marseille, but he grew up in the Moroccan city of Fez. He was educated at the university of Aix-Marseille and at the Sorbonne. He began his academic career in Lille but continued it it Paris. Following his appointment to a chair in Seventeenth Century Studies at the Sorbonne, he was elected to a chair in Rhetoric and Society in Europe (16th and 17th century) at the Collège de France. He held it from 1986 until mandatory retirement in 2002, and then became an emeritus professor.
He was a member of the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Société d'Histoire Littéraire de la France, the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and the Académie Française. Before being elected a member in 1995, Fumaroli received from the Académie Française the Monseigneur Marcel Prize in 1982 and the Critique Prize in 1992. He was promoted to the title of commander of the French Legion of Honor in 2008, after previously being named chevalier in 1993 and officer in 2002.
After his death on 24 June 2020, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron praised Fumaroli as one of the country's greatest ever storytellers and historians.
He was born in metropolitan France, in Marseille, but he grew up in the Moroccan city of Fez. He was educated at the university of Aix-Marseille and at the Sorbonne. He began his academic career in Lille but continued it it Paris. Following his appointment to a chair in Seventeenth Century Studies at the Sorbonne, he was elected to a chair in Rhetoric and Society in Europe (16th and 17th century) at the Collège de France. He held it from 1986 until mandatory retirement in 2002, and then became an emeritus professor.
He was a member of the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Société d'Histoire Littéraire de la France, the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and the Académie Française. Before being elected a member in 1995, Fumaroli received from the Académie Française the Monseigneur Marcel Prize in 1982 and the Critique Prize in 1992. He was promoted to the title of commander of the French Legion of Honor in 2008, after previously being named chevalier in 1993 and officer in 2002.
After his death on 24 June 2020, the office of French President Emmanuel Macron praised Fumaroli as one of the country's greatest ever storytellers and historians.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 24, 2018
Un libro de esos que te descubren mundos nuevos y cientos de obras más por leer. Muy bueno.
August 19, 2020
A scholarly and magisterial account of the concept of the Republic of Letters from the Renaissance through the Enlightenment, translated from the original French.
October 8, 2020
Fumaroli is a professor emeritus at the Collège de France and a member of the British Academy, the Académie française, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Société d’histoire littéraire de la France. Vergnaud is an editor and literary translator who has translated works from the French by authors such as Mohand Fellag, Joy Sorman, Marie-Monique Robin, and Scholastique Mukasonga.
An interesting history of the flow of ideas through Europe from the 15th to the 18th Century. The letters were a source of exchanging ideas in the time when communications across distances were very primitive. Examining the writings of Petrarch, Erasmus, Descartes, Montaigne, and others Fumaroli creates the web of exchange. The idea of mass-produced journals was still a long way away. Also, the ideas exchanged may not be readily accepted by those in power. Humanism versus the clergy would extend into the 18th century. Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of banned books from the Roman Church. The Spanish Inquisition did not officially end until 1834. Too public of exchange of ideas could bring serious consequences.
An interesting study of the flow of intellectual history in Europe. The spread of ideas from Rennesance Italy throughout Europe. The moral and social questions that became the modern Western world are captured in their earliest stages. The Republic of Letters was an unofficial university for a state without a state. A complex book and not for those looking for an easy read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews