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REVIEWS THE QUINCENTENARY OF ERASMUS AND SOME RECENT BOOKS' The question of the date of Erasmus' birth has not, perhaps, even yet been finally settled. Nevertheless, most Erasmian scholars appear now to believe that the arguments advanced more than sixteen years ago in a paper published in Dutch by the late R.R. Post as part of the Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciencest have put it beyond reasonable doubt that Erasmus was born in 1469; the reason why Erasmus' own statements on the point are ambiguous is another matter. Testimony to the growing consensus of opinion among scholars is to be found in the fact that the year 1969 saw a number of celebrations in honour of Erasmus' quincentenary, first in Belgium and later at Tours and - during October, which we know securely to have been, at any rate, the month of his birth - in his native Holland. It is, therefore, an appropriate time to examine collectively as well as severally a number of outstanding recent books, each of which is of quite unusual interest in a field of well-nigh universal appeaL There is today, as we all know, a heavy concentration of educational artillery opposed to the exact and thorough study of the Latin tongue. Whoever desires to pursue so unpopular an activity, whether as student or as teacher, must walk warily, taking cover where he can; he will be lucky indeed to survive the barrage of disapproval, where so many among the stoutest have perished. It may therefore seem strange and paradoxical that the almost simultaneous appearance of three books, two of which are either largely made up of translations or else adapted to the needs of the student who lacks Latin, should strengthen the defence of Latinity rather than the assault upon it. Nevertheless, if one may summarize the general mood that appears to prevail among their authors, it is one of confidence, not of despair; of opening, and not of ending; and it is worth our while to ask why this should be so.¥-Margaret Mann Phillips. The IAdages' of Erasmus: A St1.uly with Translations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1964.Pp.xvi, 418. $7.95; Margaret Mann Phillips, Erasmus on his Times. Abridged paperback edition or the above, containing the translations . Cambridg., Cambridge University Press 1967. Pp. xx, 172. $2.75; James Kelsey McConica, English Humanists and Reformation Politics 'Under Henry VIII and Edward VI. Oxford: C1arendon Press 1965. Pp. xii, 340. 45s; Craig R. Thompson, Translation of The Colloquies of Erasmus. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ] 965 . Pp. xxxiv, 662. $17.25. t"Geboortejul' en opleiding van Erasmus" (Mededelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, afd. Letterkunde. Nwe. reeks, dl. 16, no. 8, Amsterdam, 1953). Since the above was written, a pupil of Post's, working on the archives of Deventer, has produced some evidence that points to 1467. See also E. W. Kohls in Theologische Ze;tschrift, xxu (1966),91-121 and 347-59. Volume XXXIX, Nllmber 2, January 1970 182 In the first place, works such as these on the Latin Renaissance have three aspects that may rightfully claim the attention of modem humanity: they are concerned with a brilliant period of intellectual history, their subject lies close to the practice and the values of our present-day life, inasmuch as Erasmus' Adages and Colloquies burst through the schoolroom walls into that mature "proverbial philosophy" which as a source of wisdom for living is as palatable today as ever; and - perhaps above all - they point to a literature of majestic extent and extraordinary variety, the entire body of which, including as it does the often unrealized originals of many great works in modem languages, is there to be pondered and enjoyed - in Latin, for translations simply cannot be made in number enough to comprehend more than a comer of its width and depth. And the fact that, not only in the "Renaissance" of which we are speaking but in those of previous ages long before Erasmus, conscious and repeated efforts were made to return to a classical purity in language and style, works to the advantage of the modern student, who may thus with a single key unlock...

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