bonæ litteræ: occasional writing from David Rundle, Renaissance scholar

To begin in good humanist style: most erudite reader, though we may never have met and though thousands of miles may separate us, we have been brought together by the honour you have paid me by visiting this modest site, and for that kindness of spirit I am heartily grateful.

What you will find here are comments on intellectual and cultural matters relating mainly to the Renaissance, but certainly not confined to that. It grows out of my own scholarly interests which do not fit easily into current academic boundaries: a Renaissance scholar who, by necessity, straddles the ‘Middle Ages’ and the ‘early modern era’, an historian of Europe who also works on the part of the shared civilization that lies north of the English Channel. At the same time, I am sometimes an historian of political thought, sometimes an historian of the book, and sometimes an old-fashioned palaeographer. The range of my interests is reflected by my involvement with three learned societies: I was for many years a Council member of the Society for Renaissance Studies, and, for five years, I was the Executive Officer to the Society for the Study of Medieval Languages and Literature, who publish Medium Ævum; I am also an Hon. Editor for Oxford Bibliographical Society (which has some exciting monographs about to appear). You can find out more about my publications and research from other pages on this blog.

If you are wondering why this site is titled as it is, you can read my explanation in one of the first posts here.

I should explain two points: there is another David Rundle, who is a committed Liberal and involved in Oxford politics. I sometimes try to persuade people he is no more than my twin brother (my parents having given us both the same forename) but I have to admit that he is me. My other life once had its own blog, where I pontificated on current affairs of state. That site, which was set up before this one, has now become moribund, though I do wonder about reviving it. One insight I have learnt from writing there is that I will never master the art of incessant blogging. So, the second point is that you will find reading this site is not a burdensome commitment: as the subtitle states, you have a promise that the writing will only be occasional.

Si vales bene, valeo.