Renaissance England's Chief Rabbi: John Selden
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:19th Jan '06
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- Paperback£67.00(9780199234301)
In the midst of an age of prejudice, John Selden's immense, neglected rabbinical works contain magnificent Hebrew scholarship that respects, to an extent remarkable for the times, the self-understanding of Judaism. Scholars celebrated for their own broad and deep learning gladly conceded Selden's superiority and conferred on him titles such as 'the glory of the English nation' (Hugo Grotius), 'Monarch in letters' (Ben Jonson), 'the chief of learned men reputed in this land' (John Milton). Although scholars have examined Selden (1584-1654) as a political theorist, legal and constitutional historian, and parliamentarian, Renaissance England's Chief Rabbi is the first book-length study of his rabbinic and especially talmudic publications, which take up most of the six folio volumes of his complete works and constitute his most mature scholarship. It traces the cultural influence of these works on some early modern British poets and intellectuals, including Jonson, Milton, Andrew Marvell, James Harrington, Henry Stubbe, Nathanael Culverwel, Thomas Hobbes, and Isaac Newton. It also explores some of the post-biblical Hebraic ideas that served as the foundation of Selden's own thought, including his identification of natural law with a set of universal divine laws of perpetual obligation pronounced by God to our first parents in paradise and after the flood to the children of Noah. Selden's discovery in the Talmud and in Maimonides' Mishneh Torah of shared moral rules in the natural, pre-civil state of humankind provides a basis for relationships among human beings anywhere in the world. The history of the religious toleration of Jews in England is incomplete without acknowledgment of the impact of Selden's uncommonly generous Hebrew scholarship.
We are indebted to Jason Rosenblatt and Oxford University Press for bringing renewed and wider attention to the remarkable Selden through the publication of this learned book, Renaissance England's Chief Rabbi. * Steven Grosby, Azure *
...primarily a brilliant analysis of the importance of Selden and the scope of his learning...a majestic survey of classical, biblical, and rabbinic scholarship in works by Selden's contemporaries...a masterful portrayal of Selden's humanism. * Noam Flinker, Hebraic Political Studies *
Grounded in profound scholarship and a lifetime of Talmudic learning, this book sets a new high-water-mark for seventeenth-century literary, religious, and cultural studies. * William E. Engel, Seventeenth-Century News *
Jason Rosenblatt's book elegantly demonstrates a twentieth-century scholar's understanding of - and appreciation for - a seventeenth century scholar's humane learning...well-written...a necessary book... * Achsah Guibbory, Renaissance Quarterly *
It is a delight to share Rosenblatt's delight in overturning modern academic prejudices * Brian Cummings, Times Literary Supplement *
This is a major study of a major figure in 17th-century intellectual history. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * E. D. Hill, Choice *
...a learned and informative addition to Seldenian studies by a scholar with the necessary Hebrew skills and Judaic training to make sense both of Selden and of the allusions to him (explicit or otherwise) in the various other authors studied. * Literature and History *
Rosenblatt breaks new ground in the study of Selden's Hebraism...that demonstrates a breadth and depth of knowledge and learning unparalleled in the England of his age. Rosenblatt has thoughtfully reintroduced Selden to the academic world, illuminating his role of tolerant mediator in an age of prejudice and intolerance and opening the door for further scholarship. * Sixteenth Century Journal *
Rosenblatt not only illuminates some of the darker corners of seventeenth-century thought but also throws fresh light on familiar material * MLR, 103.1 *
- Winner of Winner of the Milton Society of America's John T. Shawcross award for the most distinguished chapter on John Milton published in 2006.
ISBN: 9780199286133
Dimensions: 242mm x 163mm x 30mm
Weight: 633g
328 pages