Clever Little Books

Regular price €65.99
Regular price €66.99 Sale Sale price €65.99
A01=Ian Frederick Moulton
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Ian Frederick Moulton
automatic-update
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=DSBD
Category=HBJD
Category=HBLH
Category=NHDL
censorship
COP=Canada
Delivery_Pre-order
early modern culture
early modern Europe
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_non-fiction
historical sexuality
history of sexuality
homoeroticisim
humanism
Language_English
Latin poetry
masculinity
PA=Not yet available
Price_€50 to €100
PS=Forthcoming
Renaissance Europe
Roman poets
sexual discourse
softlaunch

Product details

  • ISBN 9781487558338
  • Weight: 520g
  • Dimensions: 161 x 236mm
  • Publication Date: 21 Nov 2024
  • Publisher: University of Toronto Press
  • Publication City/Country: CA
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
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Clever Little Books explores the role of Latin commentaries on the Roman poet Martial as a medium for the transmission of sexual knowledge among male elites in early modern Europe. Valued for its wit and concision, Martial’s sometimes shocking poetry was highly regarded in early modern humanist culture, and editions with detailed scholarly commentary circulated widely.

Clever Little Books explores how unexpurgated editions of Martial’s poetry created a significant cultural space for discourse on illicit and non-procreative sexual practices in the early modern period. The early modern commentaries give detailed information on all aspects of sexuality described in the poems, and they constitute a fundamental site of encounter of the early modern period with the world of antiquity. Drawing on early modern scholarly discourse around canonical Latin poetry, as well as handwritten marginal commentary by individual readers such as the English playwright Ben Jonson, Ian Frederick Moulton traces the conflict between ancient sexual mores and the sexual culture and traditions of Renaissance Europe, including later attempts to censor Martial’s texts.

By focusing on the sexual knowledge transmitted through editions of Martial, Clever Little Books sheds light on an overlooked but important aspect of early modern sexual discourses, attitudes, and knowledge.

Ian Frederick Moulton is President’s Professor of English and Cultural History at Arizona State University.