The Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers by Andrew PyleReview by: Elizabeth M. HodgeThe Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 34, No. 2, Marriage in Early Modern Europe (Summer,2003), pp. 582-583Published by: The Sixteenth Century JournalStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20061496 .

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582 Sixteenth Century Journal XXXIV/2 (2003)

development of Portuguese classical style. Michael J. Woods examines the theme of predic tion in four plays by Pedro Calder?n de la Barca (La vida es sue?o [1636], El mayor monstruo

del mundo [1637], La hija del aire [1653], and El pr?ncipe constante [1629]), arguing that in each,

Calder?n offers an illustration of the workings of a Thomistic causal system.

Other essays address an assortment of topics in an expanded array of literary genres. Ian

Michael explores the probable provenance of the Bodleian Library's first copy of Don Quix

otic, part 1, while David Pattison offers a brief study of the linguistic evidence for the date of

Lazarillo de Tormes, arguing for a date of composition earlier than the conventional second

quarter of the sixteenth century. Robert Pring-Mill's excellent study of the interior structure

of the baroque concepto pairs the critical analysis of Baltasar de Graci?n with that of Terence

May as a means of graphically delineating possible correspondencias and the internal workings

of relationships within conceits. Jeremy Lawrance's reading of Renaissance and early modern

Iberian views on the Ottoman Empire as expressed in Rodrigo Gonz?lez de Clavijo's

Embajada a Tamorl?n and the anonymous dialogue Viaje de Turqu?a finds an evolution within

Turcica to an engagement with a no longer familiar Islam, and with an increasingly ascendant

Europe. A very different text?the anonymous "Carta del Bachiller de Arcadia"?is the focus

of John Rutherford's essay. Through a careful analysis of the letter and its context, Rutherford

argues that far from being the anonymous work of the scholarly ambassador to the Vatican,

Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, the letter was a pasquinade written in 1548 by one of Hurtado

de Mendoza's enemies in Rome. Colin Thompson's analysis of Hieronymite chronicler Jos?

de Sig?enza's description and explanation of his decorative scheme for the Escorial Library

seeks to place Sig?enza within the complex milieu of Spanish intellectual life c. 1600, rather

than the Erasmian tradition of an earlier generation. Bruce Taylor focuses on another of the

Iberian religious orders, the Mercedarians, tracing mutations in the order's public image and

members' self-perceptions through a consideration of changing recruitment techniques and

policies from the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries. The final essay by John

Edwards examines the life and works of Truman's predecessor of sorts?Lorenzo Lucena, a

nineteenth-century Catholic priest from C?rdoba who became an Anglican and the first

professor of Spanish at Oxford.The volume concludes with a helpful bibliography and index.

Together, these valuable essays serve as a fitting tribute to R. W Truman's long and distin

guished career.

The Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers. Ed. Andrew Pyle.

Bristol, England:Thoemmes, 2000. 1000 pp. $550.00. ISBN 1855067048.

Reviewed by: Elizabeth M. Hodge, Gavil?n College

Lexicon entries are rarely an exciting read. After all, they are meant to be concise, par

ticular, and strictly for research purposes. With this predisposition in mind, I embarked upon

a review of the Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers, edited by Andrew Pyle.

Happily, I discovered that this two-volume set is a pleasant mixture of interesting and erudite

entries, alongside of a bit of standard fair.

The entries on the lesser-known philosophers are particularly engaging, at least with

respect to the biographical materials.There are entries on political revolutionaries, scientists,

poets, and historians that have been all but lost to history. These are the people with whom

Locke argued, Cromwell schemed, and Newton conversed. While history has been open to

the memory of the aforementioned, few have heard of Slingsby Bethel (revolutionary and

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Book Reviews 583

Machiavellian sympathizer), Henry Care (Whig theorist), John Eachard (Hobbesian critic), or Robert Fludd (whose theories influenced Kepler). Each of the entries of the more

obscure folk has the appropriate biographical and historical data in order to paint a reasonable

picture of the person. The entries come complete with a bibliography and other reference

materials for further inquiry, if need be. Thus, the information is adequate, somewhat engag

ing, and worthy of being on one's reference shelf. One negative aspect may be in the writing

style?a bit terse and stiff throughout the work.

The entries on the better-known philosophers are strictly standard fair, no controversy, no deviation from the accepted biographical sketches and presentation of basic theories. One

might say, that the entries on say, Bacon, Herbert, Locke, and Hobbes are on the pedestrian side of things?quite mundane. They are adequate of material, but that is all. Thus, they are

fine as a basic reference, but would be sorely lacking if one were looking to go beyond intro

ductory information.

Ultimately, The Dictionary of Seventeenth Century British Philosophers fulfills its duty as a

lexicon of early modern British thinkers. It has much to offer for those unfamiliar with sci

entific or intellectual history, especially on the more obscure folk. However, for the scholar

it may be lacking a bit. It is worthy of a library reference shelf for perusal by legions of under

graduates.

William Dunbar, "The Nobill Poyet": Essays in Honour of Priscilla Bawcutt.

Ed. Sally Mapstone. East Linton:Tuckwell, 2001. 237 pp. $31.95. ISBN 1862321965.

Reviewed by: R. James Goldstein, Auburn University

The occasion behind this collection of essays (and earlier conference) is to celebrate the

publication of Priscilla Bawcutt s superb two-volume edition of The Poems of William Dunbar

(1998). Gathering many of the most established scholars in the field of sixteenth-century Scottish literature and language, Mapstone 's collection significantly contributes to our

understanding of Dunbar and later sixteenth-century Scottish poets. Although readers inter

ested in newer theoretical approaches may be disappointed, the essays are challenging, often

breaking new ground in a field still relatively undervalued by scholars.

Sally Mapstone s "Introduction: William Dunbar and the Book Culture of Sixteenth

Century Scotland" offers a valuable overview of the complex relations between vernacular

and Latin book production, and of early printing and the continued importance of manu

script codices well into the seventeenth century. The first group of essays focuses on codico

logical and textual matters.Thus Catherine van Buuren,"The Chepman and Myllar Texts of

Dunbar," analyzes typographic and orthographic variants for evidence that the first typeset ters were probably French-speakers with limited understanding of Scots. Julia Boffey, "The

Maitland Folio Manuscript as a Verse Anthology," provides an up-to-date discussion ofthat

important manuscript (ca. 1570-86) and the related seventeenth-century Reidpeth MS. A. S.

G. Edwards, "Editing Dunbar: The Tradition," offers a lively assessment of all editions of

Dunbar before Bawcutt s definitive work.

The next cluster of essays highlights the relationship between Dunbar and other six

teenth-century Scottish poets. In one of the most rewarding essays of the collection, R. J.

Lyall, "The Stylistic Relationship between Dunbar and Douglas," argues that the beginning of the century witnessed something close to "a revolution in Older Scots poetic style," plau

sibly suggesting that Dunbar's Goldyn Targe may well have been a response to Douglas's Police

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