xii, 247 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 25 cm
Notes:
"This volume proceeds from an international conference held at the University of Edinburgh on 2 April 2016 entitled "Antiquity and the History of Ideas in Eighteenth-Century Europe."--Acknowledgments and Contributors are: Anthony Ossa-Richardson, Maria Giulia Franzoni, Thomas Hopkinson, Maeve O'Dwyer, Miriam Al Jamil, Kelsey Jackson Williams, Alan Montgomery, Marta Dieli, Tim Stuart-Buttle, Flora Champy
Bibliographic Note:
Includes bibliographical references and index
Contents:
Part 1. Danger and delight : reading ancient literature -- Part 2. Antiquity on display : travellers, grand tourists, collectors -- Part 3. Antiquity and national identity : Scotland and Greece -- Part 4. Antiquity in moral philosophy and political thought
Summary:
"This volume represents the first move towards a comprehensive overview of the place of antiquity in Enlightenment Europe. Eschewing a narrow focus on any one theme, it seeks to understand eighteenth-century engagements with antiquity on their own terms, focusing on the contexts, questions, and agendas that led people to turn to the ancient past. The contributors show that a profound interest in antiquity permeated all spheres of intellectual and creative endeavour, from antiquarianism to political discourse, travel writing to portraiture, theology to education. They offer new perspectives on familiar figures, such as Rousseau and Hume, as well as insights into hitherto obscure antiquarians and scholars. What emerges is a richer, more textured understanding of the substantial eighteenth-century engagement with antiquity"-- Back cover