The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth Century Verse & Prose
Editorial Reviews
Tom Clayton, Regents Professor of English, University of Minnesota
"... includes a number of women writers....This ambitious and thoughtful anthology deserves a large audience."
Book Description
The publication of The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Verse and Prose is a literary event; this comprehensive collection is the first anthology of the period to reflect the breadth of seventeenth-century studies in recent decades. Containing the work of over one hundred writers, from John Chamberlain at the beginning of the century to Elisabeth Singer Rowe at its end, The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth-Century Verse and Prose has generous selections from the work of all major writers, and a representation of the work of virtually every writer of significance. The editors have included complete works wherever possible. A headnote by the editors introduces each author, and each selection has been newly annotated.
While material that has traditionally made up much of the 17th-century canon is well represented, there are two areas in particular in which scholarship of the 17th-century has changed, and both are reflected in this new Broadview anthology; first, the work of women writers has begun to move out of the margins, and in this anthology such work figures prominently, with extensive selections not only from canonical writers such as Behn and Bradstreet, but also from other writers (such as Katherine Philips and Margaret Cavendish) who have been receiving considerable scholarly attention in recent years.
Second, there has been a redefinition of literature to include popular culture (and a corresponding shift towards a more historical approach). In a radical departure from the exclusively "high" culture taught in previous generations, this anthology includes memoirs, letters, political texts, travel writing, prophetic literature, street ballads, and pamphlet literature. Writing from America as well as from the British Isles is here, alongside a full representation of the literary poetry and prose of the period, such as the poetry of Jonson; the prose of Bacon; the metaphysical poetry of Donne, Herbert, Marvell, and others; the lyric verse of Herrick; and substantial selections from the poetry and prose of Milton and Dryden. (While Samson Agonistes is here in its entirety, Milton's epic poems have been excluded, in order to allow space for other works not so readily accessible elsewhere.)
The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth Century Verse & Prose
The Broadview Anthology of Seventeenth Century Verse & Prose,Alan Rudrum,Joseph Laurence Black,Holly Faith Nelson,Joseph Black,Broadview Pr,1551110539,17th century,Civilization,Early modern, 1500-1700,English literature,General,Great Britain,Literary Collections,Literature: Classics,Poetry anthologies: 16th to 18th centuries
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