Silva de varia lección
Silva de varia lección is an important work from the 16th century, which comes from the hand of the humanist author Pedro Mexía (1491–1551). This is a work of the so-called mixed genus ( miscelánea ), which contains numerous short treatises on a wide variety of topics from various sciences and specialist areas.
Editions and success of the work
Silva de varia lección was published in Seville in 1540 in only three parts , but in the same year it was edited in a revised version corrected by Mexía itself and supplemented by ten chapters in the third part. In 1550/1551 a new edition with four parts (22 new chapters) was published in Valladolid . The work achieved widespread success and was distributed in at least 107 editions across Europe. There are at least 32 versions in Castilian and 75 editions in other languages such as Italian , French , Dutch , English and German . Over time, Silva de varia lección was supplemented and continued by several authors.
Genre and style
The font Silva de varia lección belongs to the so-called mixed genre, which is already excellently described by the Spanish title of the work. It is a collection of short treatises that have been put together without any particular method, order or order ( Silva , as disorganized as trees grow in a natural forest) from a variety of books ( de varia lección ). Silva is now even considered a synonym for a mixed literary work. Mexía himself justifies his style of writing and the way in which he lined up the topics in Silva de varia lección by referring to important authors who invented this genre and also wrote: This writing style is entertaining and interesting, so that the reader feels entertained and the reading like to continue. Mexía was the first to write in this way in Castilian. As a result, Mexía opened the way to composition and writing in the Romance languages and the hybrid genre in the vernacular was spread more and more through the newly invented letterpress printing. Silva de varia lección inspired Montaigne and is considered to be the pioneer of the essay .
Origin and themes
Mexía found the material for his work in the writings of important ancient and modern authors of his time. Silva de varia lección relates thematically to Las noches áticas by Aulus Gellius , Saturnales by Macrobius and Banquete de los sofistas by Ateneus, and De honesta disciplina (1504) by Pedro crinito (Pietro Riccio), Lectionum antiquarum libri XXX (1526) by Ludovico Celio Rhodigino (Luigi Ricchieri) and De varia historia libri tres (1524) by Nicolás Leónico ( Nicolao Leonico Tomeo ). There are also other thematic references and references to works, such as Historia natural by Pliny the Elder , Colloectanea rerum memorabilium by Solinus and Factorum et dictorum meomarbilium libri novem by Valerius Maximus as well as quotations from the Bible and Aristotle .
Author's intention
Mexía wanted to make the knowledge hidden in the Latin works available to a wider public. For this reason he wrote his script in the popular language Castilian , so that even those who could not speak Latin could acquire significant knowledge. Thus Mexía opened the way to composition or writing in the Romance languages, whereby he attached great importance to writing his treatises in an interesting and entertaining way, so that people would not feel bored with their studies.
literature
- Pedro Mexía: Silva de varia lección. Edited by Antonio Castro Díaz. 2 volumes. Ed. Cátedra, Madrid 1989, ISBN 84-376-0889-9 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ “It is the ordo neglectus permitted in a Silva that accommodates Montaigne's erratic thinking and writing. The parallels between individual contributions to the Diverses leçons and the Gascogner's early drafts are clearly evident. ”(Wolfgang Adam: Poetic and Critical Woods. Investigations into the history and forms of writing 'on occasion'. Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1988 [= Supplements to Euphorion, Journal for the History of Literature , Issue 22], p. 231).