Francis Kirkman, Prince Erastus

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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) 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 of Version H (referenced as the Seven Wise Masters in Kirkman's account of his childhood reading), as well as the 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 Version H, Version A, and 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 (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]

General Information
Language within Version
Narrative / Scholarly Group
Parent Versions	English Erasto
Child Versions
Author	Francis Kirkman
Title
Siglum of the version of the Seven Sages
Branch of the tradition	Seven Sages of Rome

Language & Composition
Language of version	English
Translated into (languages)
Place of composition
Date of composition	1674
Source for date of composition

Literature & Editions
Modern research literature
Modern Editions

Recorded branch of this secondary version
I (Versio Italico) Erasto (Es) English Erasto Erastus, or, The Roman Prince Francis Kirkman, Prince Erastus French Erasto Italian Erasto Mario Teluccini, Erasto in verse Spanish Erasto Il Libro dei Sette Savi de Roma (C) L'Amabile di Continentia (Em) Storia d'una Crudele Matrigna (M) Storia di Stefano (R) Versio Italica historiae septem sapientum (L)

Connected prints
Print Language Location Date of Print Francis Kirkman, The history of Prince Erastus, son to the Emperour Dioclesian, and those famous philosophers called the seven wise masters of Rome. London: Anne Johnson, 1674 English 1674

Adaptations
Adapted from (version)	French Erasto
Adapted into (version)	Erastus, or, The Roman Prince
Source for composition and adaptation information

Languages in Use
Regional or specific language of version

Notes
Note
Notes on motifs

Pattern of embedded stories in this version

Has Short Title Has Sequence Number Has Narrator Has Name Variation Canis – The Faithful Dog 1 Euprosigoro Euprosigorus Arbor – The Tree 2 Empress   Medicus – The Doctor 3 Dimurgo Dimurgus Aper – The Boar and the Fruit 4 Empress   Tentamina – The Test 5 Terno Thernus, Thermus Sapientes – The Wise Men 6 Empress   Zelus – Zeal 7 Enoscopo Enoscopus Puteus – The Well 8     Gaza – The Treasure 9 Empress   Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife 10 Filandro Philantropus Roma – Rome Besieged 11 Empress   Corpus Delicti – The Discovered Corpse 12 Agato Agathus Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels 13 Empress   Caepulla 14 Leuco Lencus Vidua – The Widow 15     Puer Adoptatus – The Adopted Son 16 Empress   Copy Embedded Stories Copy Embedded Stories × Select Target Page: Close Process

Connected manuscripts
Has Language Has Location Has Date Range Of Production