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John C. Olin, Erasmus, Utopia and the Jesuits: Essays on the Outreach of Humanism. Fordham UP, 1994, xvxii + 105 pp., clothbound ISBN 0-8232-1600-4, $25; paperback ISBN 0-82321601-2, $15.95.
This volume collects six essays by John C. Olin, three of which have been previously published. The common theme explored is humanism, which the author views as one of the essential dynamics underpinning the Renaissance and Reformation. The intellectual and moral dimensions of humanism are examined through the patristic scholarship of Erasmus, utopianism and the history of the Jesuits. A companion volume to the present was published in 1979 entitled Six Essays on Erasmus (Fordham UP, 1979). More recently, Olin edited Erasmus' Patristic Scholarship: The Edition of St. Jerome jointly with James Brady (CWE 61, 1992).
The first two essays deal with Erasmus' patristic scholarship in the context of "reform" humanism. A fascinating comparison of portraits by Antonio da Fabriana of Jerome and Quentin Metsys of Erasmus sets the tone of the first essay: "Erasmus and Saint Jerome: the Close Bond and its Significance". Olin traces the influence of Jerome on Erasmus' early formation and the development of his monumental 1516 edition of the Father. The core of the essay is an examination of the dedicatory letter to Archbishop William Warham of Canterbury and the introductory Life of Jerome penned by Erasmus for the edition. Erasmus bemoans the scant attention paid to Christian authors by his contemporaries. Moreover, he argues that Jerome was a theologian trained in the humanities who aimed to restore the vera theologia of the early church. His commentary served as a twopronged attack on his critics -both scholastics and "pedantically critical" humanists (13). Olin stresses the theological reform thrust present in Erasmus' work, a concern shared with Jerome. Both draw on scriptural and patristic sources and emphasise the importance of "literary quality" (19) in the preparation of their material.
Chapter 2, "Erasmus and His Edition of Saint Hilary", reinforces this argument. Olin expressly concerns himself...