Gerald Sandy, ed. The Classical Heritage in France.

(Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, 109.) Boston and Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2002. vi + 592 pp. $187. index, illus, bibl. ISBN: 90-04-11916-7.

Combining the expertise of seventeen specialists with his own, Gerald Sandy offers readers a broad if not comprehensive selection of articles on the history, development, and impact of classical studies in early-modern France. Areas of inquiry range from the reception of Aesop and Babrius in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to the theory of classical architecture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In between one finds articles on major writers and literary genres, on Latin codicology, Greek geography, the translation of classical authors, French book illustration, and on significant trends in the science of law and aesthetics.

As Sandy explains in his prefatory remarks, the publication of Guillaume Bude's earliest works in Greek, followed by the foundation of the Parisian College Royal in 1530, marks the beginning of a Renaissance of classical studies in France. The inclusion in particular of Greek language and literature in the humanistic program of study represents in his opinion a defining moment of transition, from a long-standing, Latin-based tradition of medieval scholarship to a renewed interest in neglected areas of classical culture. Many of the articles selected for this volume offer solid support for his premise. In "Hellenizing Geography: Travellers in Classical Lands," Olga Augustinos contrasts the conception of Greek space that humanists had derived from the texts of Pausanias, Pliny, Ptolemy, and others, with the descriptive accounts of Renaissance travelers--one produced an idealized vision of Greek culture, the other the portrayal of a nation lying in ruin under Ottoman rule. Ultimately, as fragments of Greek civilization found their way into the cabinets of antiquarians, divorced from their primitive spatial surroundings, that vision of ruin, symbol of human frailty and decadence, emerged in the Romantic imagination.

In separate articles, Sandy surveys the limited resources available to the first generation of Hellenist scholars in Paris and underscores Guillaume Bude's contribution to Greek philology. Alain Billault and Laurence Plazenet call attention to Jacques Amyot's influential role as a second generation Hellenist. Amyot's translations of Heliodorus' Aethiopica (1547), of Longus' Daphnis and Chloe (1559), and of Plutarch's Lives (1559) and Moralia (1572), are said to have influenced generations of French playwrights and novelists, providing them with classical material and models to imitate. Montaigne, who greatly admired his style, praises him as the finest writer of French prose in his time. Turning to the subject of lyric and epic poetry, Philip Ford, Jean Braybrook, and Patricia Rosenmeyer look at leading influences, common themes, and the use of classical myth among members of the Pleiade. Henri Estienne's 1554 editioprinceps of the Anacreontic corpus, in particular, sparked a vogue of imitations, adaptations, and translations from the original Greek. Competing translations of Anacreontic 22 by Ronsard, Belleau, and Baif provide a basis for stylistic comparison. Gillian Jondorf assesses the evolution of French Renaissance theater, emphasizing in the work of Etienne Jodelle and Robert Gamier the predominant influence of the Latin classics--Seneca, Terence, Plautus. Erasmus, Rabelais, and Montaigne receive ample attention from different perspectives. According to George Huppert ("Under the Shadow of Socrates"), all three embrace in Socrates a model of the honneste homme, one who shuns sophistry and displays his wisdom through actions rather than words. In a review of Rabelais' publishing career, John Parkin ferrets the comic author's "true voice," which, he argues, can be discerned in Gargantua's controversial letter addressed to his son, Pantagruel. Gargantua's praise of Renaissance learning reserves a place of honor for the Greek language without which "c'est honte que une personne se die savant." Much having already been written on Montaigne's predilection for Plutarch, Sue Farquhar focuses on the writer's fascination with Tacitean discourse as an alternative to the traditional model of Ciceronian eloquence. Tacitus' terse style, which promotes ambiguity, invites readers to fill in the gaps and participate in a dialogue with the author, just as Montaigne seeks to engage his readers in dialogue and stimulate critical reflection.

This volume, in sum, delivers in abundance what its title promises--insight into France's classical heritage. Its twenty articles offer treatment of major figures and dominant cultural trends which should appeal to a wide variety of readers. Those pressed for time will find useful indices to assist them in locating specific information within the volume.

JAN PENDERGRASS

University of Georgia