I wouldn't be surprised if the theological line of investigation here turned
out to be less useful than the rhetorical (Aphthonius on ethopoeia is
probably something Harington would have known, for instance; and you might
find reference to soliloquy conceivably in one of the annotated editions of
his Progymnasmata). But the best places to begin any line of enquiry about
University curricula in the period are the standard (and also
standard-setting) histories, which contain far more information about the
curriculum than any other single source:
Nicholas Tyacke, ed., The History of the University of Oxford: Volume Iv,
Seventeenth-Century Oxford (Oxford, 1997)
James McConica, ed., The History of the University of Oxford: Volume III:
The Collegiate University (Oxford, 1986)
Yes, I know these are about Oxford rather than Cambridge, but unfortunately
they are superior to the equivalent rather patchy volume on Cambridge in the
sixteenth century in Christopher Brooke, ed., A History of the University of
Cambridge, 4 vols. (Cambridge, 1988-2004), and will probably tell you what
you need to know. There would be valuable leads to the rhetorical side of
your investigation (though not just that) in Peter Mack, Elizabethan
Rhetoric: Theory and Practice, Ideas in Context (Cambridge, 2002).
As I remember Harington left behind a relatively full book list (though from
later in his career), but I'm afraid I can't from where I am at the moment
find where it is. I imagine it will be referred to in the bibliography of
Jason Scott-Warren, Sir John Harington and the Book as Gift (Oxford, 2001).
If it proves hard to track down I could dig out details. I can't remember if
the biographical material in D.H. Craig's quite helpful Twain Authors volume
on Harington contains discussion of his Cambridge career, but it might be
worth a look.
Colin Burrow
Senior Research Fellow
All Souls College
High Street
Oxford OX1 4AL
01865 279341 (direct) 01865 279379 (Lodge)
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_____
From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Julia Staykova
Sent: 24 July 2008 00:25
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Cambridge theological curriculum in 1570s: and Harington's
'soliloquies'
That is an interesting new lead!
Harington's use of 'soliloquy' comes straight out of Isidore, as Harington
uses soliloquy in close proximity to prosopopeia (separated by a handful of
words), and both terms feature in close proximity (again, separated only by
a handful of words) in Isidore's Etymologies, Book II "On Rhetoric and
Dialectic". I still need to investigate whether Prosper hasn't borrowed some
fancy vocabulary out of Isidore, too.
Julia
2008/7/23 Mitchell M. Harris <[log in to unmask]>:
Julia-
I don't know if you're considering grammar school texts at all in your
study, but another potential avenue of the Soliloquies to consider would be
St. Prosper of Aquitaine's Ex sententiis Augustini, also known as the
Prospero. I know this text is being used in the medieval period, but haven't
studied its use in the Renaissance period as of yet. The title in itself is
intriguing, but I've never read anything relating Prospero's name back to
this text. Good luck with the research.
Best,
Mitch Harris
Mitchell M. Harris
Department of English
Augustana College
2001 S. Summit Ave.
Sioux Falls, SD 57197
"Alack, when once our grace we have forgot,
Nothing goes right . . ."
- William Shakespeare
On Jul 23, 2008, at 5:52 PM, Julia Staykova wrote:
perhaps I could explain why this is of any interest:
Every history of soliloquy (including the little jewel, Shakespeare's
Soliloquies by Clemen and Hirsh's Shakespeare and the History of
Soliloquies) traces this history kicking off from Greek and Roman theatre,
then leaping across a massive knowledge gap in the Middle Ages landingo nto
the late morality stage, in convenient proximity to Marlowe's and
Shakespeare's soliloquies.
The problem is, these histories are not aware of the text which invents the
soliloquy as a discursive mode and a method for self-cognition: Augustine's
Soliloquies. These travel to medieval devotional discourses through Hugo of
St. Victor's Soliloquia de arrha animae and have a long history of confused
reception: most medieval or early modern readers ever to have heard of the
soliloquy know it through a pseudo-Augustinian text of that name. In comes
John Harington, the sole recorded user of the word in Elizabethan England
(so it seems), who has NOT read Augustine's solioquies but HAS read or seen
Augustines Soliloquies (the pseudo-Augustinian apocrypha). It was most
probably owned by Elizabeth, too.
Julia
--
Julia Staykova
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Department of English
University of British Columbia
397-1873 East Mall
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6T 1Z1
