front cover of L’Honnête Femme
L’Honnête Femme
The Respectable Woman in Society and the New Collection of Letters and Responses by Contemporary Women
Jacques Du Bosc
Iter Press, 2014
I heartily recommend this translation and edition of the two works by Jacques Du Bosc. The introduction provides a solid, erudite entry to Du Bosc and his world, with a clear emphasis on the gender issues central to the Other Voice. Especially good is the detailed study ofthe reception of these works. Moreover, the translation is clear and readable. A great deal of work was required to transform the periodic sentences and paragraphs of seventeenthcentury French prose into an English work that is so readable and lucid for a contemporary reader who is not a specialist in the field. The long, informative titles to the essays and letters (already transparent in the table of contents) further situate material that can seem obscure to a contemporary reader. The informative notes, especially the biographical tags and the excellent use of Furetière to explore ambiguous or archaic phrases, illuminate a world that would otherwise seem opaque to many contemporary readers.
—Reverend John J. Conley, SJ
Knott Professor of Philosophy, Loyola University Maryland
 
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front cover of Lucrece and Brutus
Lucrece and Brutus
Glory in the Land of Tender
Madeleine de Scudéry
Iter Press, 2021
A collection of texts by a pioneering seventeenth-century French woman author.
 
Comprising texts by Madeleine de Scudéry, including many from her novel Clélie, this volume focuses on the story of Lucretia, the Roman matron whose rape and suicide led to the downfall of the Roman monarchy. Through her work, Scudéry seeks to contrast the enormous cultural contributions of women with their physical vulnerability and to propose an alternative to sexual violation, as envisioned on the Map of the Land of Tender that charts an imaginary land in the novel and outlines a path toward love. In Scudéry’s version of this tale, Lucrece and her beloved, Brutus, follow the path of tender friendship. Scudéry contradicts history’s characterization of Lucrece as craving glory in the form of fame. Indeed, contrary to ancient sources, Lucrece’s glory will be her decision to sacrifice herself secretly for her tender friend.
 
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