A critical old-spelling edition of Thomas Wilsons̓ The Arte of Rhetorique (1553)

Thomas Wilson's The Arte of Rhetorique (1553) is the first English rendition of a complete rhetoric in the Ciceronian tradition. As such it is crucial for understanding the history of the language and English rhetorical and literary theory. Therefore, a definitive text is required. Although none was available when this project began, much work had been done in the form of unpublished dissertations: R.H. Wagner (1928), Daniel K. Church (1978), and Thomas Derrick (1978), later published in 1982. This edition builds upon that research in that it establishes according to the principles of modern textual scholarship. The copy-text for this edition is the first edition of 1553, Newberry copy, and the additions that Wilson included in the 1560 second edition. This copy-text has been collated against most of the extant copies of 1553 and 1560 and against at least one copy of each subsequent edition: 1562, 1563, 1567, 1580, 1584, 1585, and 1909. The results of these collations are contained in the appendixes, which include exhaustive lists of the print variants and the historical collations. The textual information is used in the textual introduction in the discussion of the geneaology of the texts. The copy-text was analyzed by running-tit1es and some speculation about the text's coposition is there provided.

This text also includes a substantial biographical introduction which pulls together much of the scattered information about Wilson and discusses his life in terms of his scholarship, religion, and politics. His life and work is furthermore placed in the context of the political and educational reforms and ideas of the Tudor humanists. Also, a critical introduction surveys the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance traditions of rhetoric relevant to establish Wilson's place therein, and it evaluates The Arte as a manual for social and linguistic criticism. Finally, a commentary is provided which glosses most of Wilson's influences, classical and otherwise, and the difficult terms or passages in the text.