Aims and Expectations of the Delitiae Poetarum Germanorum (1612)

• In Event: Neo-Latin Literature and Literary Culture across Europe as Seen in the National Delitiae

Abstract

The Delitiae Poetarum Germanorum (DPG) was published in six, substantial volumes in 1612 at Frankfurt am Main. The collection has obvious connections with other Delitiae anthologies produced in Europe by Janus Gruter (Ranutius Gherus): It shares with the Delitiae Italorum, Gallorum and Belgicorum its title and arrangement, for example. The editor of the DPG left only his initials for posterity, however. If the identity of the DPG’s editor must remain a mystery (at least for now), the volumes’ dedicatory forewords, as well as their selection of works do provide clues as to the aims of the collection and its intended audience. By studying the collection’s authors and the character of their works alongside the paratexts that accompany each volume, this paper will suggest that the spirit guiding the DPG’s compiler was that of a collector, and that his intended readership was interested more in a show of erudition than connoisseurship.

Author

• William M. Barton, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Neo-Latin Studies