The Age of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered in the Universities of Oxford and London — John Shaqi
The Age of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered in the Universities of Oxford and LondonAllen, P. S. (Percy Stafford)
History
The Age of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered in the Universities of Oxford and London
Allen, P. S. (Percy Stafford)
Erasmus, Desiderius, -1536; Renaissance
'I have still a great many things to do, but I shall not begin
upon them till the printed books from Cologne arrive at
Deventer. My plan was to go to Heidelberg, Freiburg, Basle and
some of the universities in the East and then return to
Deventer through Saxony and Westphalia. But at Coblenz I met
four men from Strasburg who declared that Upper Germany was
almost all overrun by soldiers. This unexpected alarm has
compelled me to dispose of the 1500 copies of _The Revival of
Latin_ amongst the schools.[2] After visiting Deventer and
Zwolle I shall go to Louvain, and then, if it is safe, to
Paris. I thought you ought to know of this change in my plans;
that you might not be taken by surprise at finding me gone
westwards instead of into Upper Germany.
'Please take great pains over the correction of the
manuscripts.'
[2] particularibus studiis.
3. AGRICOLA TO HEGIUS <at Emmerich>: from Groningen, 20 Sept. 1480.
'I was very sorry to learn from your letter that you had been
here just when I was away. There are so few opportunities of
meeting any one who cares for learning that you would have been
most welcome. My position becomes increasingly distasteful to
me: since I left Italy, I forget everything--the classics,
history, even how to write with any style. In prose I can get
neither ideas nor language. Such as come only serve to fill the
page with awkward, disjointed sentences. Verse I hardly ever
attempt, and when I do, there is no flow about it; sometimes
the lines almost refuse to scan. The fact is that I can find no
one here who is interested in these things. If only we were
together!
'My youngest brother Henry has been fired with the desire to
study. I have advised him against it, but as he persists, I do
not like to do more. For the last six months he has been with
Frederic Mormann at Munster, and has made some progress: but
now Mormann <who was one of the Brethren of the Common Life>
has been sent as Rector to a house <at Marburg>, and Henry has
come home. If you can have him, I should like him to come to
you. He will bring with him the usual furniture,[3] money will
be sent to him from time to time, and he will find himself a
lodging[4] wherever you advise. I should be glad to know
whether there are any teachers who give lessons out of school
hours, as Mormann does; and whether any one may go to them on
payment of a fee, whether candidates for orders[5] or not. I
should like him to get over the elements as quickly as
possible; for if boys are kept at them too long, they take a
dislike to the whole thing. The Pliny that you ask for shall
come to you soon. I use it a great deal; but nevertheless you
shall have it.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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