Output details

George Etheridge's Encomium on Henry VIII addressed to Elizabeth I — British Library Royal MS 16 C X : an electronic edition of an autograph Greek text, in the form of a database of digital images of a manuscript with accompanying apparatuses, annotated translation and supplementary material freely accessible to the public via the web portal: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/Hellenic-Institute/Research/Etheridge/

This study of George Etheridge’s hitherto unpublished Greek encomium on King Henry VIII, which was addressed to Queen Elizabeth I on the occasion of her visit to Oxford in 1566, is the product of research conducted by scholars, postgraduates and technical advisers of the RHUL Hellenic Institute, in collaboration with the British Library, led by Charalambos Dendrinos. The electronic publication of this research presents and interprets for the first time a literary text, which enriches our knowledge of Etheridge’s personality, life and career, which was dominated by the English Reformation. At the same time it sheds light on the reception and development of Greek studies in Tudor England, highlighting Henry VIII’s cultural politics through the establishment of Regius Professorships at Oxford and Cambridge. It also reflects the national concern at Elizabeth’s succession as precondition for the security of the kingdom. The edition comprises historical, palaeographical and textual sections, which help us understand in greater depth the circumstances, aims and techniques of the composition of this short rhetorical text (preserved in the British Library Royal MS 16 C X, fols. 1r-38v). The scholarly value of this electronic edition is enhanced by the implementation of new technology developed by the IT members of the team. This has produced an original interface that dynamically links corresponding words in the manuscript digital image with the transcribed and edited Greek texts, English translation, online dictionaries, editorial comments, historical and philological annotation, and palaeographical and codicological information. This project, combining traditional scholarship with innovative technology, establishes a foundation for electronic editions of texts in any language, Greek in particular.