The Utopia Correspondence of 1515

Abstract

A thoroughly annotated and complete modern English translation and normalization of More’s correspondence has been needed for a long time. Many new letters have been uncovered in the 75 years since the publication of Elizabeth Roger’s still-indispensable edition, and intervening scholarship has prompted the reevaluation of important details of chronology and authorship. This article details the story of the work begun by a team of German scholars working under Hubertus Schulte-Herbrüggen in the 1980s towards bringing a new edition to fruition and offers introductions, notes, and translations to the so-called Utopia correspondence between Henry VIII and his ambassadors in the Low Countries as a sample of recently-renewed efforts to bring out a new edition of More’s correspondence.