The material letter in early modern England
Subtitle: manuscript letters and the culture and practices of letter-writing, 1512-1635
By: by James Daybell
Series: Early modern literature in history
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 357
ISBN-13: 9780230222694
Subjects: Social aspects; LITERARY CRITICISM / Books & Reading; English literature; HISTORY / Modern / 16th Century; LITERARY CRITICISM / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh; Letter writing; Textual Criticism; Authorship; HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain; History
Description: Concentrating on the years 1512-1635, this book represents the first major socio-cultural study of manuscript letters and letter-writing practices in early modern England. It examines a crucial period in the development of the English vernacular letter before Charles I's postal reforms in 1635, one that witnessed a significant extension of letter-writing skills throughout society. Early modern letters can only be fully understood by paying attention to the 'materiality' of the texts: in others words, to the physical characteristics of manuscripts as well as to the social contexts and material conditions in which they were produced, disseminated and read. This study aims to enhance our understanding of the process of early modern letter-writing in all its nuanced complexity, as it is traced from the preparation of epistolary materials and the textual production of letters, through their subsequent delivery and circulation, to the various ways in which letters were read and latterly preserved.