Content area
Full text
Thomas Morus, Die Geschichte König Richards III, Übersetzt, eingeleitet und kommentiert von Hans P. Heinrich. München: Kösel, 1984, 224 pp. (Thomus Morus Werke, Herausgegeben von Hubertus Schulte Herbrüggen, Band 3), ISBN 3-466-25020-X. DM 34.
Hans Peter Heinrich, Sir Thomas Mores «Geschichte König Richards III», im Lichte humanistischer Historiographie und Geschichtstheorie. Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh, 1987, 220 pp. (Beiträge zur Englischen und Amerikanischen Literatur, Band 5), ISBN 3-506-70815-5.
This 'story' is a typical example of humanistic historiography. More presents it as negative counterpart to his Utopia, and it thus forms a climax in his humanist work. Shakespeare adopted for his drama More' s picture of Richard III as a ruthless tyrant. Up to today, More' s work has lost nothing of its exemplary character.
Thus reads the back cover presentation by the publisher of the first German translation of this important work by Thomas More, then Undersheriff of London. Understanding the work is aided by an attractive graphical arrangement on the inside cover of the genealogy of the kings of England from the 1327 to 1509, allowing the reader to visualise the antagonism between the houses of Lancaster and York. This edition also features a chart of the essential dates in More's biography (207-209), a register of names and places (215-224), an analytic table of contents (79) and a page of notes (63) throwing light on the closely knit network of relations among the persons appearing in the text. A reproduction of the Richard HI from the National Portrait Gallery, London, follows the bibliography (65-69) containing an almost complete list of useful studies, among them the standard work of G. Marc' hadour, L'Univers de Thomas More, and Moreana 25 and 57 with contributions by Damián Grace and Robert Reiter.
Heinrich' s translation is based on CW2, edited by Richard Sylvester. The term 'unfinished' is part of the title of Rastell's edition of 1557, which is the English History. He also consulted, the Latin version, which shows causal connections rather than amassing events and data. Heinrich describes the dramatic development as consisting up: Exposition up to Edward IV's final speech; development of conflict (rise of Richard III); climax and peripeteia (Richard's initial self-assuredness turning into angst-ridden...