Les Aventuriers de la mémoire perdue: Léonard, Érasme, Michelet et les autres. Par Jean-Christophe Saladin

Abstract

Jean-Christophe Saladin, editor-in-chief of the Miroir des humanistes series of editions of Renaissance humanist texts at Les Belles Lettres, brings his wide-ranging erudition to bear upon the protean phenomenon of the European Renaissance. Saladin’s volume promotes a holistic approach to the Renaissance, finding inherent unity in diverse social, cultural, and intellectual currents and products from the fourteenth century to the early seventeenth. The scope of this book, therefore, is necessarily ambitious, taking in the social history of Europe from 1350 to 1650 (Part One, ‘La Comédie de ce monde’), alongside its art history (Part Two, ‘Arts’, which also includes theatre), literature (Part Three, ‘Lettres’), science (Part Four, ‘Sciences et techniques’, which also includes print technology), religion along with philosophy (Part Five, ‘Philosophie et religion’), and politics (Part Six, ‘Politique’). Saladin’s book argues that the creative exploration of the culture of classical antiquity, epitomized in the work of early modern humanists...