Marie Sally Cleary, Myths for the Millions. Thomas Bulfinch, His America, and His Mythology Book, Frankfurt am Main, Peter Lang, coll. "Kulturtransfer und Geschlechterforschung" n° 4, 2007, xvi-414p.
Isbn (ean13): 978-3-631-51902-8.
Recension par Kris Fletcher (Louisiana State University) dans Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2008.09.49
Présentation de l'éditeur:
This book presents the life and work of the American author Thomas Bulfinch (1796-1867). He is famous for his book The Age of Fable; or, Stories of Gods and Heroes (Boston, 1855), also known as Bulfinch's Mythology.With it, he democratized for Americans the Greek and Roman myths whichthey needed to know in order to understand the literature which moreand more of them, including women, were reading. The book was alandmark on the road to equality in education and is an all-time bestseller. Bulfinch sympathized with the people - those without Latin -who did not know the myths because he spent most of his time with suchmen and women. Although he was well born and highly educated, he livedand worked modestly in order to help his struggling birth family. Byexamining letters of Thomas Bulfinch and his family and exploring lifein the early American republic, including the role of the ancientclassics, this book sheds light on the period and on Bulfinch's lifeand achievement.
Sommaire:
American Revolution - Loyalists - Charles Bulfinch in Europe - CharlesBulfinch, architecture - Children of Charles and Hannah Bulfinch -Women in the family - Boston Latin School - Phillips Exeter Academy -Great teachers of the era - Harvard University - Classical education inAmerica - American scholars in Germany - War of 1812 - Washington, DC -The Capitol in Washington - Unitarianism - Slavery - Familycorrespondence - Transcendentalism - Feminist thinking - Boston Societyof Natural History - Peabody Sisters - George Barrell Emerson - BostonLibrary Society - Boston Athenaeum - Hebrew Lyrical History (1853) - Women's education - The Age of Fable (1855)- Classical mythology in intellectual history - Use of classical mythsby Margaret Fuller and others - Romantic view of mythology - Ovid, Metamorphoses - Schoolmasters' disapproval of Ovid - Mythology textbooks - Pedagogical nature of The Age of Fable - Reception of The Age of Fable - Bulfinch's later books - Revision of The Age of Fable by Edward Everett Hale.
Marie Sally Cleary was born in Boston. She holds a B.A. inEnglish, an M.A. in Classics, and an Ed.D. in Foundations of Education.Since 1983, she has been a member of the Associates Program forindependent scholars, at Five Colleges, Inc., in Amherst. Earlier inher career, she taught Latin at Boston Latin School. She has taught atthe university and college level, and directed many programs in theclassics for teachers. Her main interest has been the democratizationof the Greek and Roman classics in American education.