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The first historical heroic epic authored by a woman, Scanderbeide recounts the exploits of fifteenth-century Albanian warrior-prince George Scanderbeg and his war of resistance against the Ottoman sultanate. Filled with scenes of intense and suspenseful battles contrasted with romantic episodes, Scanderbeide combines the action and fantasy characteristic of the genre with analysis of its characters’ motivations. In selecting a military campaign as her material and epic poetry as her medium, Margherita Sarrocchi (1560?–1617) not only engages in the masculine subjects of political conflict and warfare but also tackles a genre that was, until that point, the sole purview of men. First published posthumously in 1623, Scanderbeide reemerges here in an adroit English prose translation that maintains the suspense of the original text and gives ample context to its rich cultural implications.
The era of the Scientific Revolution has long been epitomized by Galileo. Yet many women were at its vanguard, deeply invested in empirical culture. They experimented with medicine and practical alchemy at home, at court, and through collaborative networks of practitioners. In academies, salons, and correspondence, they debated cosmological discoveries; in their literary production, they used their knowledge of natural philosophy to argue for their intellectual equality to men. Meredith Ray restores the work of these women to our understanding of early modern scientific culture. Her study begins with Caterina Sforza’s alchemical recipes; examines the sixteenth-century vogue for “books of...
This descriptive catalogue of the western manuscripts dating to 1800 housed in the libraries of the University of Pennsylvania was begun in 1960 and was printed in six issues of The Library Chronicle. Actual use of the catalogue led to the revision of some of the entries, additions, and corrections which are incorporated in the present volume. One hundred and seventeen manuscripts are described here for the first time. The manuscripts are described in the order in which they were placed on the shelves, a common but not a logical arrangement. The compilers, therefore, have prepared an extensive index listing title entries; names of authors, scribes, and owners; persons referred to in the text; names of places and countries, as well as other entries deemed useful. The catalogue includes the manuscripts of the Rare Book Collection, Henry C. Lea Library, Edgar F. Smith Collection, and the Veterinary Library. Greatly facilitating access to the resources of the University Libraries, the catalogue also provides an intriguing description of bibliographical riches.
Although Renaissance scholars generally agree that Della Porta was the finest comic playwright of his generation in Italy, no detailed analysis of these plays and of their considerable influence outside Italy has previously appeared. One of the most famous men of his time in the field of scientific investigation, Della Porta wrote plays for relaxation and, on occasion, to camouflage controversial aspects of his scientific research from the Inquisitions. Today his works in science are largely forgotten and his right to fame rests on the plays. This book brings together the available facts of Della Porta's rich and often mysterious life and closely examines his dramatic works as part of the It...