Description
Book SynopsisPonderous and new considerations upon the first six books of the Annals of Cornelius Tacitus concerning Tiberius Caesar (Genoa, Biblioteca Durazzo, MS. A IV 5) This edition makes available for the first time a recently discovered and provocative work by the English historian Edmund Bolton. Composed in the years 16291634, Averrunci or The Skowrers aims at exposing Tacitus' (alleged) anti-monarchical bias in Annals 16 and at rehabilitating the character and reign of the emperor Tiberius. The Introduction discusses the manuscript in the context of Bolton's life and other works, its response to political and historiographical controversies in early Stuart England, and its unusual, revisionist position in the contemporary movement of Tacitism. A Commentary, following the text, explains difficult passages and identifies Bolton's extensive historical references. Edited with Introduction and Commentary by Patricia J. Osmond and Robert W. Ulery, Jr.
Table of ContentsPlates
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction
I. The Manuscript: 2 “the no great volumn”
II. Author and Patrons: 8 “May it please your Lordships and Honors”
III. The Annals in early Stuart England: 23 “as it were theyr Canonical scripture”
IV. Re-reading books 1–6: 32 “refine Tiberius from Tacitus”
V. Histories: 46 “Scholes for Captaines, and sages . . . to govern the world”
VI. Reforming Tacitus: 58 “to bring him into order for the common good”
Editorial Procedures
Epistle Dedicatory
(London, British Library, Add MS 64908, ff. 162r–163r)
The Text
(Genoa, Biblioteca Durazzo, MS A IV 5)
Commentary
Bibliography
Index of Names and Summary of the Text 261
