Fall/Winter 2006 - University of Toronto Press Publishing

M E D I E VA L & R E N A I S S A N C E S T U D I E S
Adages IV iii 1 to V ii 51
Edited by John N. Grant, Translated and Annotated by John N. Grant and Betty I. Knott
COLLECTED WORKS OF ERASMUS, VOLUME 36
This sixth of seven volumes devoted to the Adages
in the Collected Works of Erasmus completes the
translation and annotation of the more than 4000
proverbs gathered and commented on by Erasmus
in his Adagiorum Chiliades (Thousands of Adages,
usually known more simply as the Adagia). This
volume’s aim, like that of the others, is to provide
a fully annotated, accurate, and readable English
version of Erasmus’ commentaries on these Greek
and Latin proverbs, and to show how Erasmus
continued to expand this work, originally published
in 1508, until his death in 1536. An indication of
Erasmus’ unflagging interest in classical proverbs is
that almost 500 of the 951 adages translated in this
volume did not make their first appearance until
the edition of 1533.
Following in the tradition of meticulous scholarship
for which the Collected Works of Erasmus is
widely known, the notes to this volume identify
the classical sources and illustrate how the content
of his commentaries on the adages often reflects
Erasmus’ scholarly and editing interests in the classical
authors at a particular time. The work was
highly acclaimed and circulated widely in Erasmus’
time, serving as a conduit for transmitting classical
proverbs into the vernacular languages, in which
many of the proverbs still survive to this day.
John N. Grant is a professor emeritus in the Department
of Classics at the University of Toronto.
Betty I. Knott is a senior honorary research fellow in the
Department of Classics at the University of Glasgow.
Praise for the Collected Works of Erasmus:
The Toronto Erasmus project is a magnificent achievement,
one of the scholarly triumphs of our time. The succession of
fine volumes – both in quality of content and of design and
production – since the edition began in 1974 has continued
to fulfil the original promise of the distinguished team of editors
and the equally distinguished advisory committee.’
-Lisa Jardin, Common Knowledge
‘Academic publishing does not get any better than this:
durably bound, expertly annotated, beautifully translated
editions of the works of one of the finest scholars in the illustrious
history of the Christian Church.’
-Michael Bauman, Journal of the Evangelical Theological
Society
‘The Collected Works of Erasmus project has long since established
a new standard for scholarly translation series to emulate.
Not only have the English versions represented Erasmus’
writings in crisp and accessible language, but meticulous
editorial scholarship has placed the author’s thought and
work in their proper intellectual contexts.’
-Jerry H. Bentley, Renaissance Quarterly
677 pp / 6 ¾ x 9 ¾ / Available
Cloth ISBN 0-8020-8832-5 / 978-08020-8832-1
£95.00 $150.00 E
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