English Erasto

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In the publisher and author Francis 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', 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.

As in the Italian and French iterations of the Erasto narrative, the Empress is named Aphrodisia, and the expanded focus on the frame also remains. For example, 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.


Eastus: Or, The Roman Prince; Being A more full Account of that Famous History of the Seven Wise Masters, With Many Pleasant Additions of Excellent, and Divertive Discourses, and Songs, not unsuitable to the Design of the Story (1684)

General Information


Parent Versions
Erasto (Es)
Child Versions
Erastus, or, The Roman Prince, Francis Kirkman, Prince Erastus
Author
Francis Kirkman
Title
The History of Prince Erastus
Branch of the tradition
Seven Sages of Rome

Language & Composition

Language of version
English
Place of composition
London, UK
Date of Composition
1674

Literature & Editions

Modern Editions
Early English Books Online, Erastus, or, the Roman Prince (2025)

Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version

{{#if:Erastus: or, the Roman prince. Being a more full account of that famous history of the seven wise masters. With many pleasant additions of excellent, and divertive discourses, and songs, not unsuitable to the design of the story. London: Printed for Dorman Newman [...] and Benj. Alsop [...], 1684, 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

Adaptations

Adapted from (version)
Italian Erasto, French Erasto




Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version










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