Reading the letters of Pliny the Younger
Subtitle: an introduction
By: Roy K. Gibson and Ruth Morello
Contributors: Morello, Ruth
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780521842921
Subjects: LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Ancient, Classical & Medieval; History; Criticism and interpretation; Latin Letter writing; Textual Criticism
Description: "This is the first general introduction to Pliny's Letters published in any language, combining close readings with broader context and adopting a fresh and innovative approach to reading the letters as an artistically structured collection. Chapter 1 traces Pliny's autobiographical narrative throughout the Letters; Chapter 2 undertakes detailed study of Book 6 as an artistic entity; while Chapter 3 sets Pliny's letters within a Roman epistolographical tradition dominated by Cicero and Seneca. Chapters 4 to 7 study thematic letter cycles within the collection, including those on Pliny's famous country villas and his relationships with Pliny the Elder and Tacitus. The final chapter focuses on the 'grand design' which unifies and structures the collection. Four detailed appendices give invaluable historical and scholarly context, including a helpful timeline for Pliny's life and career, detailed bibliographical help on over 30 popular topics in Pliny's letters and a summary of the main characters mentioned in the Letters"--

"This is the first general introduction to Pliny's Letters published in any language, combining close readings with broader context and adopting a fresh and innovative approach to reading the letters as an artistically structured collection. Chapter 1 traces Pliny's autobiographical narrative throughout the Letters; Chapter 2 undertakes detailed study of Book 6 as an artistic entity; while Chapter 3 sets Pliny's letters within a Roman epistolographical tradition dominated by Cicero and Seneca. Chapters 4 to 7 study thematic letter cycles within the collection, including those on Pliny's famous country villas and his relationships with Pliny the Elder and Tacitus. The final chapter focuses on the 'grand design' that unifies and structures the collection. Four detailed appendices give invaluable historical and scholarly context, including a helpful timeline for Pliny's life and career, detailed bibliographical help on over thirty popular topics in Pliny's letters and a summary of the main characters mentioned in the Letters"--
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Introduction; 1. Reading a life: Letters, Book 1; 2. Reading a book: Letters, Book 6; 3. Epistolary models: Cicero and Seneca; 4. Pliny's elders and betters: the Elder Pliny, Vestricius Spurinna, Corellius Rufus, Verginius Rufus; 5. Pliny's peers: reading for the addressee; 6. Otium: how to manage leisure; 7. Reading the Villa Letters: 9.7, 2.17, 5.6; 8. The grand design: how to read a collection; Appendix 1. A Pliny timeline, and the great Comum inscription; Appendix 2. Letters 1-9: catalogue of contents and addressees; Appendix 3. Popular topics in the Letters: bibliographical help; Appendix 4. Index of main characters in the Letters.