Utopia: with Erasmus's "The Sileni of Alcibiades"

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Wootton's new translation brings out the liveliness of More's work and offers an accurate and reliable version of a masterpiece of social theory. His edition is further distinguished by the inclusion of a translation of Erasmus's 'The Sileni Of Alcibades', a work very close in sentiment to Utopia, and one immensely influential in the sixteenth century. This attractive combination suits the edition especially well for use in Renaissance and reformation courses. Wootton's introduction simultaneously provides a remarkably useful guide to anyone's first reading of More's mysterious work and advance an original argument on the origins and purpose of Utopia which no one interested in sixteenth-century social theory will want to miss.

Reviews

In addition to its elegant and precise translation of Utopia , this edition offers the prefatory material and postscripts from the 1518 edition, and More's letter to Giles form the 1517 edition. Mr. Wootton has also added Erasmus's 'The Sileni of Alcibiades,' which is crucial for the interpretation he gives in his Introduction of the many ambiguities and contradictions in More's text as well as his life. The Introduction is a most valuable guide for understanding this man who was a proponent of toleration and a persecutor of heretics, a courtier full of worldly ambition ending as a fearless martyr. The contradictions of the man translated into a complicated and contradictory historiography to which Mr. Wootton's Introduction is a most intelligent guide. A welcome addition to the More literature. --J. W. Smit, Professor of History, Columbia University
Every serious reader of Utopia , friends and foes alike of Thomas More, will be enlightened by Wootton's essay. Combining it with his translations of More and Erasmus works well. This is a delightfully fine piece of scholarship, even down to the notes on the illustrations. --Donald J. Millus, Sixteenth Century Journal
Like his Introduction, which says much, both directly and indirectly, about the complexity of More's language and mentality, David Wootton's translation of the Utopia is a thoughtful and careful one. Wootton has been particularly scrupulous in his handling of marginal annotations. . . notes are economical but helpful. Students interested in 16th century humanism and/or developments in early modern Europe will find this edition especially appealing, as will everyone interested in interpretations of More's Utopia , here fruitfully juxtaposed with Erasmus' philosophy and perspective on the world as these are represented by his adage on 'The Sileni of Alcibiades.' --Elizabeth McCutcheon, Utopian Studies

Author Bio

Thomas More; Translated by David Wootton