Rudolf RlEKS et Klaus GEUS (Ed.), Petrus Mussonius. Tragoediac. Die lateinischen Tragödien von Pierre Mousson S.J. Francfort, P. Lang, 2000. 1 vol. 15x21 cm, 415 p. (Classica et Neolatina, 2). Prix : 48,97 €. ISBN 3-63 1 -35 1 78-X.

Theatre plays, performed both in Latin and in the vernacular, were always an important element in the curriculum of the Jesuit schools. They served various purposes : they were meant to facilitate the active and passive mastery of the Latin language (grammar, style, metrics), they helped train the memory, they encouraged students to take an interest in Classical as well as sacred history and instilled fundamental Christian values into their minds. They were composed by teachers and students alike, and were often performed on the occasion of school ceremonies. Thousands of these plays have been written and staged throughout Europe and in other territories, where the Jesuits established their schools. Even if many of these writings have been lost over time, still the number of extant plays, preserved either in printed editions or in manuscripts, is immense. Given its significance, it is no surprise to find that the Jesuit theatre has retained since long the attention of scholars. Whereas among the older studies the work of B. Duhr, K. von Reinhardstöttner, W. Flemming, and J. Müller still deserves mention, new fundamental research has been carried out by specialists such as J.-M. Valentin, E.M. Szarota, R. Wimmcr, and F. Rädle. To date, the Jesuit plays of the German-speaking area have been generally the most thoroughly studied. The present edition, containing the four extant plays (out of twelve known titles) of the French Jesuit and teacher of rhetoric at the colleges of Pont-à-Mousson and La Flèche, Pierre Mousson, constitutes the opening volume of the latest project in this field, focussed this time on the Jesuit theatre of 17th-century