Utter Antiquity: Perceptions of Prehistory in Renaissance England - Couverture rigide

Ferguson, Arthur B.

 
9780822312758: Utter Antiquity: Perceptions of Prehistory in Renaissance England
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 0822312751 ISBN 13 : 9780822312758
Editeur : Duke University Press, 1992

Synopsis

Historians know a great deal about how English thinkers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw the "documentable" past, but relatively little about how they perceived times stretching back beyond history. Arthur B. Ferguson shows in this elegant essay that prehistory had great meaning in Renaissance England. Commentators of various sorts--from poets to antiquaries--looked to the most distant past for the vanishing point that would perfect their historical perspective and orient them in an age of increasing change. In this pursuit they had often to let imagination serve the purposes of interpretation. Though largely speculative, their efforts reveal much about the intellectual life of Renaissance England.
Since the Bible left little room for speculation on prehistory--in fact no room at all for the concept itself--Utter Antiquity concentrates on myth and legend outside of the biblical context and on those who conjured prehistory out of these sources. A subtle conflict between belief and skepticism emerges from these pages, as Ferguson reveals how some Renaissance writers struggled with ancient explanations that flouted reason and experience, while others sidestepped such doubts by relating prehistory to man's social evolution. By isolating and analyzing topics such as skepticism, rationalism, and poetic history, Ferguson illuminates the development of historical consciousness in early modern England. His accessible and eloquent study contributes significantly to an understanding of the Renaissance mind and intellectual history in general.

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À propos de l?auteur

Arthur B. Ferguson is Professor of History, Emeritus at Duke University. His many books include Clio Unbound: Perception of the Social and Cultural Past in Renaissance England (Duke) and The Chivalric Tradition in Renaissance England.

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Éditeur
Duke University Press
Date d'édition
1992
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0822312751
ISBN 13 
9780822312758
Reliure
Relié
Nombre de pages
168
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible