George Pettie (1548–1589) was an English writer of romances. His style influenced
Robert Greene, and paved the way to
euphuism.
Life
He was younger son of John Le Petite or Pettie of
Tetsworth and
Stoke Talmage,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
, by his wife Mary, daughter of William Charnell of
Snareston,
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
. He became a scholar of
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
, in 1564, and graduated B.A. on 29 March 1569. According to
Anthony Wood,
William Gager of Christ Church was a close friend.
At Christ Church, Pettie was servitor to
Thomas Bernard, with
Richard Verstegan.
Pettie travelled abroad, and apparently had some military experience. On returning home he concentrated on writing. Guazzo's Civile Conversation. He died, according to Wood, during July 1589, in his prime, at
Plymouth
Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...
. He was buried in "the great Church" at Plymouth.
Works
The success of ''The Palace of Pleasure'' (1566–7) of
William Painter prompted Pettie to write a similar book: ''A Petite Pallace of Pettie his Pleasure, contayning many pretie Hystories by him, set foorth in comely Colours, and most delightfully discoursed''.’ It was licensed for the press to Richard Watkins on 6 August 1576, and was published soon afterwards, without date. Pettie, in his preface, says he mainly wrote for gentlewomen, and deprecated all comparison with the ''Palace of Pleasure''.
The author apologised for modernising classical tales. The stories are twelve in number.
[‘Sinorix and Camma,’ ‘Tereus and Progne,’ ‘Germanicus and Agrippina,’ ‘Amphiaraus and Eriphile,’ ‘Icilius and Virginia,’ ‘Admetus and Alcest,’ ‘Scilla and Minos,’ ‘Curiatius and Horatia,’ ‘Cephalus and Procris,’ ‘Minos and Pasiphæ,’ ‘Pigmalions freinde and his Image,’ and ‘Alexius.’] The book was popular, and two other editions, set up from new type, appeared in the same year. Other editions appeared in 1580 and 1598 by James Roberts, and in 1608 and 1613 by George Eld.
Pettie also translated the first three books of
Stefano Guazzo's ''Civile Conversation'', via French. Richard Watkins obtained a licence for the publication on 27 February 1581. The first edition appeared in that year with a dedication addressed from Pettie's lodging near
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
, London, on 6 February 1581, to Marjorie, wife of
Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys. The work is in prose, with a few verses interspersed. A second issue by Thomas East was dated 1586, and included a fourth book of Guazzo, begun by Pettie, but completed from the Italian by Bartholomew Young.
Family
Pettie left lands at
Aston Rowant,
Kingston Blount, and
Tetsworth, handed down from his father, to his brother Christopher. Another brother, Robert, was father of Mary Pettie, the mother of Anthony Wood.
Notes
Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettie, George
1548 births
1589 deaths
16th-century English writers
Writers from Oxfordshire