The Virgilian Tradition II: Books and Their Readers in the Renaissance

The Virgilian Tradition II brings together thirteen essays by historian Craig Kallendorf.

The essays present a distinctive approach to the reception of the canonical classical author Virgil, that is focused around the early printed books through which that author was read and interpreted within early modern culture. Using the prefaces, dedicatory letters, and commentaries that accompanied the early modern editions of Virgil’s Eclogues, Georgics, Aeneid, and Appendix Virgiliana, they demonstrate how this paratextual material was used by early readers to develop a more nuanced interpretation of Virgil’s writings than twentieth-century scholars believed they were capable of. The approach developed throughout this volume shows how the emerging field of book history can enrich our understanding of the reception of Greek and Latin authors.

This book will appeal to scholars and students of early modern history, as well as those interested in book history and cultural history.