Francis Kirkman, Prince Erastus - Revision history

Noeth at 13:24, 18 February 2026

2026-02-18T13:24:27Z

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	\|Is Adapted From=French Erasto		\|Is Adapted From=French Erasto
	\|Is Adapted Into=Erastus, or, The Roman Prince		\|Is Adapted Into=Erastus, or, The Roman Prince
	~~\|Has Text Language=English~~
	}}		}}
	{{EmbeddedStory		{{EmbeddedStory

Bonsall at 17:35, 17 February 2026

2026-02-17T17:35:41Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:35, 17 February 2026
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	{{Secondary Version		{{Secondary Version
			\|Has Description=The first translation of the ''Erasto'' into English was by Francis Kirkman in 1674. In publisher and author Kirkman's (presumably autobiographical, though certainly unreliable) [https://archive.org/details/bim_early-english-books-1641-1700_the-unlucky-citizen-_kirkman-francis_1673/page/n33/mode/1up ''An Unlucky Citizen'' (1673]), he describes a boyhood appetite for literature:

			"Once I happened upon a Six Pence, and having lately read that famous Book, of the ''Fryar and the Boy'', and being hugely pleased with that, as also the excellent History of the ''Seven Wise Masters of Rome'', and having heard great Commendation of ''Fortunatus'', I laid out all my mony for that, and thought I had a great bargain..." (p. 10).

			Kirkman went on publish new versions of many of the books his character reported enjoying, including the ''Seven Wise Masters -'' specifically, an English translation of the popular ''Erasto'' narrative in 1674. This print was given the typically lengthy title "The history of Prince Erastus, son to the Emperour Dioclesian and these famous philosophers called the seven wife masters of Rome being a full account of all that was ever written of that antient, famous, pleasant, and excellent history / written originally in Italian, then translated into French, and now rendred English by F.K." This suggests that in London literary circles in the second half of the 17th century, readers were exposed to the ''Seven Sages'' in at least two different forms: the [[English Version H\|English version of Version H]] (referenced as the ''Seven Wise Masters'' in Kirkman's account of his childhood reading), as well as the [[French Erasto\|French ''Histoire pitoyable du Prince Erasto'']], his source for the ''Prince Erastus'' text. In fact, Kirkman's ''Erastus'' blends the two versions: twice the narrator claims that while the ''Erasto''-specific embedded stories ([[Zelus]], [[Caepulla]]) related are 'as I find it in the Originals Italian and French', he additionally notes that 'others say it was another Story' instead, which the narrator then also includes. These stories - [[Puteus]] and [[Vidua]] - are some of the tales usually omitted by the ''Erasto'' tradition, buth always found in [[H (Historia Septem Sapientum)\|Version H]], [[A (Seven Sages)\|Version A]], and [[I (Versio Italico)\|Version I]] texts. Kirkman's ''Erastus'' therefore contains not fifteen but seventeen stories - two of them offered by the narrator himself. (This story order is disctint from that found in the other English ''Erasto'' text, [[Erastus, or, The Roman Prince\|''Erastus, or, The Roman Prince'' (1684)]]; see version page for more details.)

			As in the Italian and French iterations of the ''Erasto'' narrative, the Empress is named Aphrodisia in the English redactions, and the expanded focus on the frame also remains. For example, in Kirkman's text, the Empress becomes enamoured of Erastus before the two meet, and courts him from afar with gifts and love letters before he returns to Rome; his rejection of these preempts his rejection of her proposition. At the end of the narrative, despairing and defeated, Aphrodisia kills herself in prison before she can be executed.


			[Added by Jane Bonsall]
	\|Has Parent Version=English Erasto		\|Has Parent Version=English Erasto
	\|Has Author=Francis Kirkman		\|Has Author=Francis Kirkman
	\|Has Branch Of Tradition=Seven Sages of Rome		\|Has Branch Of Tradition=Seven Sages of Rome
	\|Has Language Of Version=English		\|Has Language Of Version=English
			\|Has Date Of Text Composition=1674
			\|Is Adapted From=French Erasto
			\|Is Adapted Into=Erastus, or, The Roman Prince
			\|Has Text Language=English
	}}		}}
	{{EmbeddedStory		{{EmbeddedStory

Bonsall: Replacing embedded stories

2026-02-17T11:45:41Z

Replacing embedded stories

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 |Has Branch Of Tradition=Seven Sages of Rome
 |Has Language Of Version=English
 }}

Bonsall at 11:43, 17 February 2026

2026-02-17T11:43:08Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:43, 17 February 2026
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	{{Secondary Version}}		{{Secondary Version
			\|Has Parent Version=English Erasto
			\|Has Author=Francis Kirkman
			\|Has Branch Of Tradition=Seven Sages of Rome
			\|Has Language Of Version=English
			}}

Bonsall: Created page with "{{Secondary Version}}"

2026-02-17T11:42:39Z

Created page with "{{Secondary Version}}"

New page