The history of the Sevarambians : a utopian novel / / Denis Veiras ; edited and with an introduction by John Christian Laursen and Cyrus Masroori

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910965065403321
• Autore: Vairasse Denis <approximately 1630-approximately 1696.>
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Albany, : State University of New York Press, c2006
• ISBN: 0-7914-8168-9; 1-4237-8548-7
• Descrizione fisica: xxvii, 390 p. : ill
• Altri autori (Persone): LaursenJohn Christian; MasrooriCyrus; VairasseDenis <ca. 1630-ca. 1696.>
• Disciplina: 843/.4
• Soggetti: Voyages, Imaginary; Utopias
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Includes "The history of the Sevarambians" published in French (5 parts) and translated into English in 1738; and "The history of the Sevarites or Sevarambi," part one published in 1675, and part two published in 1679.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Front Matter -- Contents -- Introduction -- The History of the Sevarites or Sevarambi -- The Publisher to the Reader -- The History of the Sevarites, or Sevarambians -- Part II (1679) -- The History of the Sevarites or Sevarambins -- The Author’s Preface -- The History of the Sevarambians -- The History of the Sevarambians Part II -- Part III -- The History of the Sevarambians Part IV -- The History of the Sevarambians Part V -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: Reminiscent of More's Utopia and Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Denis Veiras's History of the Sevarambians is one of the great utopian novels of the seventeenth century. Set in Australia, this rollicking adventure story comes complete with a shipwreck, romantic tales, religious fraud, magical talismans, and supernatural animals. The current volume contains two versions of Veiras's story: the original English and the 1738 English translation of the expanded French version. Veiras's work was well known in its own time and has been translated into a number ; of languages, including German, French, Russian, and Japanese, while the English version has been largely forgotten. The book has been read to teach a variety of political doctrines, and also has been cited as an early development in the history of ideas about religious toleration. It reveals a great deal about early modern English, Dutch, and French attitudes toward other cultures. One of the first utopian writings to qualify as a novel, it can be interpreted as a metaphor for human life, in all its complexity and ambiguity.