Affiliation as (Dis)semination: Gossip and Family in George Eliot's European Novel

Abstract

Is there any successor of the incomparable Lorenzo to whom the great Turk is so gracious as to send over presents of rare animals, rare relics, rare manuscripts, or fugitive enemies, suited to the tastes of a Christian Magnifico who is at once lettered and devout...? And what famous scholar is dictating the Latin Letters of the Republic — what fiery philosopher is lecturing on Dante in the Duomo, and going home to write bitter invectives against the father and mother of the bad critic who may have found fault with his classical spelling? ("Proem", Romola)