Dancing around the Well

Reviews / Votes

"MacPhail's book offers a highly readable and informative reconstruction of the circulation of classical adages in diverse genres of Latin and vernacular literature in the last decades of the sixteenth century. [...] The technique of using proverbial sayings in dedicatory and familiar epistles had been developed by Angelo Poliziano and perfected by Erasmus, who noted that proverbs in letters are like jewels mounted on a ring, and so promote a special relationship between writer and addressee. [...] By drawing our attention to this recurring feature of Renaissance literary discourse, MacPhail makes a splendid contribution that is certain to stimulate further discussion about the humanists' manipulation of classical commonplaces. As MacPhail demonstrates so effectively, the adages are important components of a fascinating literary era."
Riemer A. Faber, University of Waterloo. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 68, No. 4 (Winter 2015), pp. 1352-1354.