The Queen’s Endorsement: A Translation of Cicero’s Masterpiece

Godfred Gylby, a scholar in Elizabethan England, translated Cicero’s influential work “On Duties” into English with the Queen’s permission. This translation aimed to provide guidance and inspiration to young people and promote good governance in a time of percieved moral decline.

Portrait of Sir Rowland Hill, Mercer’s Copy

In intersting text published by the press of Sir Rowland Hill, has the long and didactic titile:

An epistle or letter of exhortation vvritten in Latyne by Marcus Tullius Cicero, to his brother Quintus the proconsull or deputy of Asia, wherin the office of a magistrate is connyngly and wisely described. Translated into englyshe by G.G. Set furth and authorised according to the Queenes Maiesties iniunctions

A copy of this can be found on-line thanks to University of Michigan Library, and is available here.

The book contains an introduction by Godfred Gylby, who expresses concern about the decline of moral standards and the lack of guidance for young people in England. He highlights the undervalued status of learned individuals and the prevalence of injustice, which argues that studying the works of wise and political thinkers, such as Cicero, can provide valuable guidance and inspiration.

This intorcuction is written in July 1561, shortly before the death of Sir Rowland Hill which was in November of that year.  That business continued to fuction for a short period after his death while Privy Council-level printing and matters specified in his lifetime were discharged.

Clopton portrait of Elizabeth I, 1558 — dawn of her reign, guided by Parker with Rowland Hill on her Privy Counil working on pluralisum

Permission was sought and granted from Queen Elizabeth I to publish this book, demonstrating the Queen’s support for intellectual pursuits and her desire to promote good governance. The book aims to teach and provide an example of how statecraft should be conducted, offering valuable insights into justice, proper conduct, and the responsibilities of public office.

This text is refered to by Jessica Winston in Lawyers at Play: Literature, Law, and Politics at the Early Modern Inns of Court, 1558-1581. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2016 while discussin Nicholas Bacon and they ways the Inns of Court became iterested in literature and drama as part of the state’s identity work.

A modern portrait of Cicero