Gascoigne had enough learning to
translate Ariosto's tale of Sospetto
-- in the Cinque Canti -- in/into his
Adventures of Master F.J., and Spenser
had enough Gascoigne to translate
F.J.'s resulting Elenor into FQ III's
Hellenore, wife of the suspicious
Malbecco. -- jcn
On Fri, 24 Sep 2010 22:10:41 +0100
Gillian Austen
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I don't know whether he owned the
>books, but Spenser was certainly an
>admirer of George Gascoigne's work.
>Gascoigne was very briefly the most
>influential writer in England, from
>about 1575 to 1579, when Spenser's
>publication of the Shepheardes
>Calender made Gascoigne's innovations
>instantly old-fashioned. Spenser
>includes one of the better known
>tributes to Gascoigne: in the
>commentary on the November eclogues,
>E.K. tacitly compares Gascoigne to
>Ovid and Chaucer, as poets who have
>written on Philomela:
>
> "Ma[ster] George Gaskin a wittie
>gentleman, and the very chefe of our
>late rymers, who and if some partes
>of learning wanted not (albee it is
>well knowen he altogyther wanted not
>learning) no doubt would have
>attayned to the excellence of those
>famous Poets. For gifts of wit and
>naturall promptnesse appeare in hym
>aboundantly."
>
> This is the highest literary praise
>possible: in 1579, Ovid and Chaucer
>were the ancient and the modern
>poetic forefathers, and E.K. says
>Gascoigne might have “atteyned to
>[their] excellence”. Admittedly, it
>also flags up Gascoigne's personal
>shortcomings – the lack of “some
>partes of learning” which held him
>back. In the same way, Gabriel Harvey
>- although he publicly praised
>Gascoigne for his literary
>achievements - expressed a great deal
>of personal criticism privately, on
>his copy of the Posies. Of all the
>writers who commented posthumously on
>Gascoigne, Harvey and Spenser are
>most likely to have known him
>personally.
>
> Elizabeth Heale wrote a fine paper
>on Spenser and Gascoigne which is
>being published in the forthcoming
>collection of New Essays on George
>Gascoigne.
>
> It's also worth noting Gascoigne's
>long-term connection with Spenser's
>patron-to-be, Lord Grey, the
>dedicatee of the highly innovative
>Steele Glas/Complaynte of Phylomene,
>among other works. It's reasonable to
>conclude that Spenser certainly knew,
>and may have owned, some of
>Gascoigne's books.
>
> Gillian
>
> On 24/09/2010 18:08, Kenneth Gross
>wrote:
>> in re: Nicholas Canny caused quite
>>a stir in Cambridge in 2001 when (in
>> conversation with Spenserians) he
>>denied Spenser could have had many
>>books
>> at Kilcolman, because in perilous
>>circumstances.
>>
>> just a speculation: he might not
>>have had many books, but he might
>>well
>> have had at least the commonplace
>>book or books into which he'd been
>>copying
>> things from years of past reading,
>>to aid his undoubtedly capacious
>>memory.
>> That might have been a strange
>>library of quotations in itself.
>>
>> KG
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 12:59 PM,
>>Herron, Thomas<[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello -- yes, see DSWO's published
>>>paper on the subject "Did Spenser
>>>Read
>>> Tasso?" and also Raymond Gillespie
>>>for the Bristol book trade with
>>>Munster
>>> that David mentions (and cf.
>>>Gillespie and Hadfield's volume on
>>>the history
>>> of the Irish book). For a couple of
>>>old Catholic books associated with
>>> Raleigh in his house in Youghal
>>>(found in a wall), see discussion in
>>>Sir
>>> John Pope Hennessy, *Sir Walter
>>>Raleigh in Ireland* (1883).
>>>
>>> Thomas Harriot also in Ireland in
>>>the late 1580s/early 1590s, living at
>>> Molanna, Co. Waterford, and I can't
>>>imagine him going anywhere without a
>>> library of some kind.
>>>
>>> For discussion of library catalogs
>>>of collections of the earls of
>>>Desmond
>>> and Kildare, see the opening chapter
>>>(on renaissance influence in Ireland)
>>> in Sidwell and Harris (eds), *Making
>>>Ireland Roman* (Cork UP 2009). This
>>> book should interest Lee Piepho and
>>>other neo-latinists esp.
>>>
>>> Nicholas Canny caused quite a stir
>>>in Cambridge in 2001 when (in
>>> conversation with Spenserians) he
>>>denied Spenser could have had many
>>>books
>>> at Kilcolman, because in perilous
>>>circumstances. But I don't think
>>>that
>>> should be the final word on the
>>>subject. NB Spenser was interlinked
>>>with
>>> Dublin until at least 1586, and
>>>probably later: he may not have
>>>formally
>>> moved in to Kilcolman until the late
>>>1580s, and FQ I-III (at least)
>>>perhaps
>>> mostly written by then. Also, Cork
>>>and Youghal and Kilmallock and
>>>Limerick,
>>> all towns, were not far away from
>>>Kilcolman; even closer was Mallow,
>>>home of
>>> the Norrises, which was not sacked
>>>in 1598. As Andrew K. rightly
>>>points
>>> out, monastic life still a real and
>>>shadowy presence in Munster in the
>>>late
>>> 16th century, incl wandering friars
>>>(pesky Archimago).
>>>
>>> Sincerely, Thomas
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List
>>>[[log in to unmask]] On
>>> Behalf Of David Wilson-Okamura
>>>[[log in to unmask]]
>>> Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010
>>>9:39 AM
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: Spenser's libraries?
>>>
>>> On Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 7:56 AM,
>>>Hannibal Hamlin
>>> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>> the libraries
>>>> available to Spenser, especially at
>>>>Cambridge. As I recall, these have
>>> been
>>>> catalogued and studied.
>>>
>>> Kaske organized a session about this
>>>at the Cambridge Spenser
>>> conference in 2000. Adams's
>>>catalogue of the Cambridge libraries
>>>lists
>>> books that were available _when he
>>>conducted the census_. But many of
>>> these were acquired in the sixteenth
>>>century. I.e., "being in Adams"
>>> does not equal "available to
>>>Spenser." A catalogue of Roffie's
>>>library
>>> would be a good idea if there isn't
>>>one already. What I puzzle over
>>> are the books that Spenser had (or
>>>could borrow) in Ireland. What was
>>> in L. Bryskett's library? Or Barnabe
>>>Googe's? There was a book trade
>>> with Bristol, but it was mostly
>>>textbooks. And yet, somehow, Spenser
>>> found an authorized text of Tasso,
>>>and absorbed it while he was there.
>>> So someone was bringing in new,
>>>Continental works of literature.
>>> Bryskett is my best guess, but
>>>that's as far as I've gotten.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Dr. David Wilson-Okamura
>>> http://virgil.org
>>> [log in to unmask]
>>> English Department
>>> Virgil reception,
>>>discussion, documents,&c
>>> East Carolina University
>>> Sparsa et neglecta coegi. --
>>>Claude Fauchet
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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[log in to unmask]
James Nohrnberg
Dept. of English, Bryan Hall 219
Univ. of Virginia
P.O Box 400121
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4121
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