Cleophilus’ De coetu poetarum and Iustus Lipsius’ Somnium
Dreaming of the Literary Tradition
Cleophilus’ De coetu poetarum and Iustus Lipsius’ Somnium
Dreaming of the Literary Tradition
Description
Providing the first edited text, translation and commentary of two Renaissance dream-narrative satires, this edition sheds light on the period's literary history and reception of classical texts. Cleophilus' De coetu poetarum(first printed 1483–1485) and Iustus Lipsius' Somnium (first printed 1581) are both framed as dreams in which their authors encounter ancient authors and compare ancient literary works to the deplorable state of literature in their own times. They belong to a tradition of reflections on the characteristics of literature and the value attached to it over time, while also themselves imitating ancient poetic structures.
Lipsius' Somnium, written in a mixture of prose and verse that characterises the so-called Menippean satire, has attracted much scholarly attention as a central text in the tradition of satirical dream narratives that held sway in Humanist circles from the late sixteenth century onwards. By contrast, Cleophilus' elegiac poem has failed to make its mark in scholarship even though it was an important forerunner of this tradition and enjoyed widespread popularity at the time, contributing, among other things, to the impact of Dante's Divine Comedy on Neo-Latin literature. The present edition makes these two important texts more accessible and allows their assessment side by side, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of Renaissance-Humanist satire and the wider development of literary history as well as the reception of classical literature in the early modern period.
Accessibility Information
Additional accessibility information
- EPUB 3.0
- Conforms with the requirements of EPUB Accessibility Spec v1.1
- WCAG level AA
- WCAG v2.2 compliant
- accessibility@bloomsbury.com
Hazards
The publication contains no hazards
Support for non-visual reading
- No accessibility features offered by the reading system, device or reading software are disabled or otherwise unusable with the product
- Has alternative text descriptions for images
Visual adjustments
Appearance of the text and page layout can be modified according to the capabilities of the reading system (font family and size, spaces, as well as color of background and text)
Navigation
- Page list to go to pages from the print source version
- Elements such as headings, tables, etc for structured navigation
- All or substantially all textual matter is arranged in a single logical reading order
- Content is enhanced with ARIA roles to optimize organization and facilitate navigation
- Purposes of all links are made clear
Rich content
Language tagging provided
Table of Contents
Introduction
Cleophilus, De coetu poetarum
Lipsius, Somnium
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Product details
| Published | May 14 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 304 |
| ISBN | 9781350468764 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Series | Bloomsbury Neo-Latin Series: Early Modern Texts and Anthologies |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
Reviews
ONLINE RESOURCES
Bloomsbury Collections
This book is available on Bloomsbury Collections where your library has access.
Related Titles
