Roses for asses : garden topos in "Hortulus elegantiarum" by Wawrzyniec Korwin

Lorenz Rabe, a 15/16th century Silesian humanist and teacher known by his Latin name, Laurentius Corvinus, wrote a number of poems and schoolbooks in Latin. Among his works was "Hortulus elegantiarum", containing a collection of hints on elegant Latin style and its examples. The manual, whose editio princeps appeared in 1502, was dedicated to the students of the Jagiellonian University. It had around 25 editions. The main purpose of this paper is to discuss the preface and the afterword to the {Hortulus} in the context of {loci communes} concerning the garden metaphor. In Corvinus’ Hortulus the metaphor may be read in different ways: as a book, a pupil’s mind or author’s creative invention. The first way is used in Corvinus’ afterword and preface, whose palimpsest structure (evoking Apuleius’ Metamorphoses) emerges from the analysis included in the main part of the article. Two other ways of application of the metaphor are connected with Corvinus’ dedicatory poem to Cracow students. The dedication is briefly discussed at the end of the paper.