Commentaries, commonplaces, and Neo-Latin studies

Abstract

The book entitled Virgilii ... opera in locos communes digesta - the text of Virgil, that is, processed into commonplaces was published in 1597 in Tournon, is the subject of this chapter. Author uses this book as a tool to clarify the reading practices that generated it-practices that are quite different from ours today. He then meditates briefly on what effect all this has on our understanding of Virgil in Renaissance culture. He steps back a bit to consider how what we have learned should, affect the way we pursue studies in Neo-Latin literature. He concludes that Coyssard's commonplace book has proved to be considerably more than we might have anticipated, opening a window into reading and writing in the Renaissance and suggesting that the Neo-Latin culture of the Renaissance is sufficiently different from our culture that we must make a conscious effort to recover it on its own terms. Keywords:commonplaces; Michel Coyssard; Neo-Latin Studies; reading practices; Renaissance; Virgil; Virgilii ... opera in locos communes digesta