Tree Versions of ‘Syllabus aliquot synodorum et colloquiorum‘: an Early Modern Reading List of Irenical Literature

Abstract

The Syllabus or reading-list of books and manuscripts collected by Jean Hotman (1552-1636) between 1590 and 1628 maps the intellectual world of those advocating religious concord or toleration in Europe at the turn of the seventeenth century. While most of the works on the list address the religious politics of France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic, the listed authors come from as far afield as Lithuania and Scotland. The earliest version of the Syllabus was republished several times in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but a much fuller version was not republished after its first appearance in 1628. This edition is relatively rare and it appeared with false publication details and under the name of a pseudonymous editor. Although a number of scholars have drawn attention to its existence and the circumstances of its publication, only passing attention has been paid to its contents. This is perhaps because a good many of the works that it lists are difficult to identify. The value of the Syllabus as a resumé of the thought of Hotman and his network of correspondents, as well as its rarity and relative inaccessibility, warrants the publication of an annotated edition.