Judith Man: Printed Writings 1500–1640: Series I, Part Three, Volume 2 (The Early Modern Englishwoman: A Facsimile Library of Essential Works & Printed Writings, 1500-1640: Series I, Part Three)
Books / Hardcover
Books › Literary Criticism › Comparative Literature
ISBN: 0754604411 / Publisher: Routledge, April 2003
This facsimile volume reproduces the 1640 translation by Judith Man of the then popular An epitome of the history of faire Argenis and Polyarchus from the French version by Nicolas Coeffeteau, itself adapted from John Barclay's Ioannis Barclaii Argenis of 1622. Zurcher (her affiliation is not noted) provides an introduction to Man, the manuscript, and the work's reception. These facsimiles, which are of interest to specialists in English history, English literature and women's studies, are not indexed. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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An Epitome of the History of Faire Argenis and Polyarchus is Judith Man's English translation of a 1623 French work by Nicolas Coeffeteau, Histoire de Poliarque et d'Argenis, which is itself an abridgement and translation of one of the most widely read fictional works of the seventeenth century, John Barclay's 1621 Latin romance Argenis. An extended political allegory of the rise to power of the French king Henri IV, Barclay's romance is peppered with numerous veiled anecdotes of politics at the English and other European courts and long disquisitions on statecraft and political ethics. It has been assumed that Barclay's work was strictly for a male audience, but Man's translation is evidence that women did in fact read Argenis, and might even suggest that allegorical romance offered women writers and readers an inroad into political discourse.
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