Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

With an Introduction by Mishtooni Bose.

More's Utopia is a complex, innovative and penetrating contribution to political thought, culminating in the famous 'description' of the Utopians, who live according to the principles of natural law, but are receptive to

Christian teachings, who hold all possessions in common, and view gold as worthless. Drawing on the ideas of Plato, St Augustine and Aristotle, Utopia was to prove seminal in its turn, giving rise to the genres of utopian and dystopian prose fiction whose practitioners include Sir Francis Bacon, H.G. Wells, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. At once a critique of the social consequences of greed and a meditation on the personal cost of entering public service, Utopia dramatises the difficulty of balancing the competing claims of idealism and pragmatism, and continues to invite its readers to become participants in a compelling debate concerning the best state of a commonwealth.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. vii)
• Preface (p. ix)
• Part 1 Introduction: More's Utopia in Historical Perspective (p. 1)
• Texts (p. 3)
• Literary Conventions (p. 3)
• Philosophical Convictions (p. 8)
• Contexts (p. 26)
• Personal Involvements (p. 26)
• Historical Circumstances (p. 31)
• Developments (p. 51)
• Transition (p. 51)
• Translation (p. 59)
• Part 2 Utopia (p. 81)
• The Translator to the Gentle Reader (p. 82)
• The Epistle, Thomas More to Peter Giles Sendeth Greeting (p. 83)
• The First Book (p. 88)
• The Second Book (p. 127)
• Letter from Peter Giles to Hierome Buslide (p. 202)
• A Meter of Four Verses (p. 205)
• A Short Meter of Utopia (p. 206)
• Gerard Noviomage of Utopia (p. 206)
• Cornelius Graphey to the Reader (p. 207)
• The Printer to the Reader (p. 207)
• Appendices
• Ralph Robynson's Dedicatory Letter to William Cecil (p. 209)
• Selected Bibliography (p. 213)
• Index (p. 225)

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

Sir Thomas More, son of Sir John More, a justice of the King's Bench, was born in 1478, In Milk Street, In the city of London. After his earlier education at St. Anthony's School, In Threadneedle Street, he was placed, As a boy, In the household of Cardinal John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor. it was not unusual for persons of wealth or influence and sons of good families to be so established together in a relation of patron and client. The youth wore his patron's livery, and added to his state. The patron used, afterwards, his wealth or influence in helping his young client forward in the world. Cardinal Morton had been in earlier days that Bishop of Ely whom Richard III. sent To The Tower; was busy afterwards in hostility to Richard; and was a chief adviser of Henry VII., who in 1486 made him Archbishop of Canterbury, and nine months afterwards Lord Chancellor. Cardinal Morton - of talk at whose table there are recollections in "Utopia" - delighted in the quick wit of young Thomas More. He once said, "Whoever shall live to try it, shall see this child here waiting at table prove a notable and rare man." At the age of about nineteen, Thomas More was sent to Canterbury College, Oxford, by his patron, where he learnt Greek of the first men who brought Greek studies from Italy to England - William Grocyn and Thomas Linacre. Linacre, a physician, who afterwards took orders, was also the founder of the College of Physicians. In 1499, More left Oxford to study law in London, at Lincoln's Inn, and in the next year Archbishop Morton died. Excerpted from Utopia by Thomas More All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Thomas More's timeless classic, which brought the word "utopia" into common usage, has been translated into English many times since its first publication in Latin in 1517. Miller's translation, though, will likely supersede all others as a classroom text and as an essential item in the libraries of Renaissance scholars. Previous translations tended to the extremes of literalism on the one hand or oversimplification on the other, so that meaning was either obscured or lost. Miller (emer., St. Louis Univ.) does not shy away from the complexity of More's Latin, but he renders it into fluent, idiomatic English. He is clearly attentive to More's own dictum that the manner of advice is as important as the matter. In Book 1 Miller retains the convolution of style in the depiction of European corruption, because it stands in meaningful contrast to the robust simplicity of the account of Utopia itself in Book 2. The translation is preceded by a concise introduction that highlights the paradox of More's imaginary society; in Utopia the ills of European society are averted, but in ways that smack of totalitarianism. Endnotes and useful suggestions for further reading. All collections. J. Sainsbury Brock University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Born in London, the son of a judge, More became an important statesman and scholar. He was also one of the most eminent humanists of the Renaissance. Educated at Oxford, More became an under-sheriff of London and, later, a member of Parliament. Under King Henry VIII he served as Treasurer of the Exchequer, speaker of the House of Commons, and, finally, Lord Chancellor.

More is probably best known for his Utopia, which was written in Latin (then the language of literary and intellectual Europe). It was translated into English in 1551. As the first part of this small masterpiece indicates, when More was weighing the offer to be an adviser to Henry VIII he was well aware of the compromises, bitterness, and frustration that such an office involved. In the second part, More develops his famous utopia---a Greek word punning on the meanings "a good place" and "no place"---a religious, communistic society where the common ownership of goods, obligatory work for everyone, and the regular life of all before the eyes of all ensure that one's baser nature will remain under control. Inspired by Plato's (see Vols. 3 and 4) Republic, More's Utopia became in turn the urbane legacy of the humanistic movement (in which More's friends were most notably Erasmus (see Vol. 4), John Colet, and William Grocyn) to succeeding ages. More also wrote a history, Richard III, which, if arguably the first instance of modern historiography in its attention to character and its departure from chronicle, is also, in its responsiveness to the Tudor polemic of divine rights, largely responsible for the notorious reputation of Richard as an evil ruler. More's refusal to recognize Henry VIII as Head of the Church led to a sentence of high treason. Imprisoned for more than a year, he was finally beheaded. Eventually, More was granted sainthood.

(Bowker Author Biography)