If it has never occurred to you that Chaucer might have influenced Joyce as much as Homer then you should read more medieval literature – or listen to Helen Cooper (Cambridge). Even though Joyce decided to name his Ulysses after Homer’s classical Odyssey, Cooper argues, his true ‘poetic father’ in the English language was Chaucer,… Continue reading Shakespeare, Chaucer and Joyce: A Conference on Medieval and Early Modern Authorship
Category: Early Modern
The ‘Monarchical Republic’ and its Critics
Patrick Collinson first set out his idea of ‘The Monarchical Republic of Queen Elizabeth I’ in a journal article in 1987. In this article he emphasised in particular two ways in which Elizabethan subjects conceived themselves as ‘citizens’ and displayed considerable self-governing capacities. First, there were Elizabeth’s Privy Councillors at the centre, who were hatching… Continue reading The ‘Monarchical Republic’ and its Critics
Conference: Medieval and Early Modern Authorship, 30 June-2 July
Swiss Association of Medieval and Early Modern English Studies Medieval and Early Modern Authorship 30 June – 2 July 2010, University of Geneva Authorship has come to the forefront of medieval and early modern English studies in recent years, as is shown by the wealth of important publications in this area. The objective of this conference is to… Continue reading Conference: Medieval and Early Modern Authorship, 30 June-2 July
The fun of deceiving your readers – and being found out
It must have been so much fun being a C17th wit hanging around your favourite tavern or coffee-house thinking up tall stories, scribbling them down and waiting to see how your readers reacted. Would they really believe that shepherds had found the remains of Moses his Tombe (1657) on Mount Nebo, or that Dutch sailors… Continue reading The fun of deceiving your readers – and being found out
‘The Paradox of Prosperity’ – Selling books in early modern Leiden
The booksellers of early modern Leiden prospered despite being regulated by a guild. In fact, they petitioned for and received permission to set up a guild as late as 1652 when other trades tried to get rid of the tight constraints such an institution imposed (p. 14). For, contrary to a widespread belief among economic… Continue reading ‘The Paradox of Prosperity’ – Selling books in early modern Leiden
