Epistolary precepts and the expressions of friendship in More’s 1535 letter to Bonvisi

Abstract

The essay examines More’s 1535 letter to Antonio Bonvisi. It compares the epistle, as a whole and in its salutation and valediction, with the humanist epistolary conventions expressed by Erasmus and discovers that More often, but not always, ignores Erasmian precepts. The essay argues that More’s rhetorical choices deepen our understanding of his enactment of friendship in the letter and of More’s self-understanding near the end of his life.