By John Monfasani (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) Starting with an essay on the Renaissance as the concluding phase of the Middle Ages and ending with appreciations of Paul Oskar Kristeller, the great twentieth-century scholar of the Renaissance, this new volume by John Monfasani brings together seventeen articles that focus both on individuals, such as Erasmus of … Continued
By François RabelaisTranslated by Donald M. Frame (NHC Fellow, 1982–83) Rip-roaring and rib-tickling, François Rabelais's irreverent story of the giant Gargantua, his giant son Pantagruel, and their companion Panurge is a classic of the written word. This complete translation by Donald Frame, helpfully annotated for the nonspecialist, is a masterpiece in its own right, bringing … Continued
By Ronald G. Witt (NHC Fellow, 1983–84) This monograph demonstrates why humanism began in Italy in the mid-thirteenth century. It considers Petrarch a third generation humanist, who christianized a secular movement. The analysis traces the beginning of humanism in poetry and its gradual penetration of other Latin literary genres, and, through stylistic analyses of texts, … Continued
By Edwin M. Duval (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) By analyzing the “design” of the Third Book – its formal composition as well as its underlying intention – E. Duval brings out the deep coherence of a work that is most often passed for ambiguous and “Menippean”. This coherence, which manifests itself simultaneously at two levels (that of … Continued
Edited and translated by Jasper Hopkins (NHC Fellow, 1983–84) Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), sometimes misleadingly referred to as the first "modern" philosopher, was born in Kues, Germany (today Bernkastel-Kues). He became a canon lawyer and a cardinal. His two best-known works are De Docta Ignorantia (On Learned Ignorance) and De Visione Dei (On the Vision of God).
By Alexander Welsh (NHC Fellow, 2008–09) For about three thousand years comedy has applied a welcome humanist perspective to the world’s religious beliefs and practices. From the ancient Greek comedies of Aristophanes, the famous poem by Lucretius, and dialogues of Cicero to early modern and Enlightenment essays and philosophical texts, together with the inherent skepticism … Continued
By Meredith J. Gill (NHC Fellow, 2003–04) The late antique Church father, Augustine, fascinated writers of the Italian Renaissance. They perceived him to be a conduit of classical and Christian truths, and an example of the life of the intellect reconciled to a life of faith. This book traces the availability and the reception of … Continued
By Christopher S. Celenza (NHC Fellow, 2003–04) In The Lost Italian Renaissance, historian and literary scholar Christopher Celenza argues that serious interest in the intellectual life of Renaissance Italy can be reinvigorated—and the nature of the Renaissance itself reconceived—by recovering a major part of its intellectual and cultural activity that has been largely ignored since the … Continued
By Marlene L. Daut (NHC Fellow, 2016–17) Focusing on the influential life and works of the Haitian political writer and statesman, Baron de Vastey (1781-1820), in this book Marlene L. Daut examines the legacy of Vastey’s extensive writings as a form of what she calls black Atlantic humanism, a discourse devoted to attacking the enlightenment … Continued
By Tom Regan (NHC Fellow, 1984–85) The revolution examined in this collection of essays is a revolution of the human spirit. In this revolution, Tom Regan passionately contends that the expansive ethic of service is replacing the suffocating ethic of greed. Unlike previous generations, "The Thee Generation" asks, "What do I have to give?" rather … Continued