Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England is an annual volume committed to the publication of essays and reviews related to English drama and theatre history to 1642. An internationally recognized board of scholars oversees the publication of MaRDiE. Readers who wish to deepen their understanding of early drama will find that the journal publishes wide-ranging discussions not only of plays and early performance history, but of topics relating to cultural history, as well as manuscript studies and the history of printing.

In Shakespeare through Letters, David M. Bergeron analyzes the letters found within Shakespeare's comedies, histories, and tragedies, arguing that the letters offer the principal intertextual element in the plays as text in their own right. Bergeron posits that Shakespeare's theater itself exists at the intersection of oral and textual culture, which the letters also exhibit as they represent writing, reading, and interpretation in a way that audiences would be familiar with, in contrast with the illustrious culture of kings, queens, and warriors. This book demonstrates that the letters, profound or perfunctory, constitute texts that warrant interpretation even as they remain material stage props, impacting narrative development, revealing character, and enhancing the play's tone. Scholars of literature, theater, and history will find this book particularly useful.

The purpose of this book is to honor the scholarly legacy of Charles R. Forker with a series of essays that address the problem of literary influence in original ways and from a variety of perspectives. The emphasis throughout is on the sort of careful, exhaustive, evidence-based scholarship to which Forker dedicated his entire professional life. Although wide-ranging and various by design, the essays in this book never lose sight of three discrete yet overlapping areas of literary inquiry that create a unity of perspective amid the diversity of approaches: 1) the formation of play texts, textual analysis, and editorial practice; 2) performance history and the material playing conditions from Shakespeare's time to the present, including film as well as stage representations; and 3) the world, both cultural and literary, in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries worked and to which they bequeathed an artistic legacy that continues to be re-interpreted and re-defined by a whole new set of cultural and literary pressures. Eschewing any single, predetermined ideological perspective, the essays in this book call our attention to how the simplest questions or observations can open up provocative and unexpected scholarly vistas. In so doing, they invite us into a subtly re-configured world of literary influence that draws us into new, often unexpected, ways of seeing and understanding the familiar.

A biography of the second Duke of Lennox, the most consequential person in the Jacobean court in Scotland and England Provides an overview of the politics and culture of Scottish and English life in the Stuart period Uses rich archival, manuscript and other primary sources Includes photographs of the Lennox and the royal family This is the first biography of Ludovic Stuart, Duke of Lennox, who served in the court of King James VI of Scotland from 1583 until his unexpected death in 1624. Lennox arrived in Scotland in November 1583, a 9-year-old boy from France and a cousin of the king. For the next 40 years he served James faithfully and skilfully, becoming the quintessential courtier, James's confidant, adviser and friend. Shrewd politician, ambitious and sometimes ruthless, but also beloved by the royal family, Lennox carefully negotiated political and diplomatic minefields. He also participated in the arts as patron and performer, sponsoring his own acting company, attending drama performances and performing in several court masques. Providing a portrait of this most important courtier, this book covers the politics and cultural life of the Stuart court in Scotland and England. It shows that it is essential to know about Lennox and his unparalleled importance in order to fully understand the reign of King James.

Published in 1986: This book is about the shows which were put on during the inauguration of new Mayors of London. Such pageants were processions through the city of London with tableaux vivants; some of the shows also included dramatic entertainment on the Thames.

Through an investigation of the dedications and addresses from various printed plays of the English Renaissance, the author recuperates the richness of these prefaces and connects them to the practice of patronage. The prefatory matter discussed ranges from the printer John Day's address to readers (the first of its kind) in the 1570 edition of Gorboduc to Richard Brome's dedication to William Seymour and address to readers in his 1640 play, Antipodes. The study includes discussion of prefaces in plays by Shakespeare's contemporaries as well as Shakespeare himself, among them Marston, Jonson, and Heywood. The author uses these prefaces to show that English playwrights, printers and publishers looked in two directions, toward aristocrats and toward a reading public, in order to secure status for and dissemination of dramatic texts. The author points out that dedications and addresses to readers constitute obvious signs that printers, publishers and playwrights in the period increasingly saw these dramatic texts as occupying a rightful place in the humanistic and commercial endeavor of book production.

Published in 1986: This book is about the shows which were put on during the inauguration of new Mayors of London. Such pageants were processions through the city of London with tableaux vivants; some of the shows also included dramatic entertainment on the Thames.

Shakespeare's London 1613 offers for the first time a comprehensive 'biography' of this crucial year in English history. The book examines political and cultural life in London, including the Jacobean court and the city, which together witnessed an exceptional outpouring of cultural experiences and transformative political events. The royal family had to confront the sudden death of Prince Henry, heir apparent to the throne, which provoked unparalleled grief. Meanwhile, an unprecedented number of plays performed at court helped move the country away from sadness to the happy occasion of Princess Elizabeth's marriage to a German prince. Shakespeare's productions dominated London's cultural landscape, while other playwrights, writers and printers produced an extraordinary number of books. Readers interested in literature, cultural history, and the royal family will find in this book a rich and accessible account of this monumental year. -- .

This is the first biography of Ludovic Stuart, Duke of Lennox, who served in the court of King James VI of Scotland from 1583 until his unexpected death in 1624. Lennox arrived in Scotland in November 1583, a 9-year-old boy from France and a cousin of the king. For the next 40 years he served James faithfully and skilfully, becoming the quintessential courtier, James's confidant, adviser and friend. Shrewd politician, ambitious and sometimes ruthless, but also beloved by the royal family, Lennox carefully negotiated political and diplomatic minefields. He also participated in the arts as patron and performer, sponsoring his own acting company, attending drama performances and performing in several court masques. Providing a portrait of this most important courtier, this book covers the politics and cultural life of the Stuart court in Scotland and England. It shows that it is essential to know about Lennox and his unparalleled importance in order to fully understand the reign of King James.

"Pageantry in the Shakespearean Theater" focuses on political, social, and aesthetic issues to reveal the enormous influence of civic celebration on Renaissance theater. Ranging across Shakespeare's canon and including the work of his fellow playwrights, this collection of twelve essays considers tournaments, royal entries, Lord Mayor's Shows, funeral processions progress entertainments, court masques, and more.

Shakespeare's London 1613 offers for the first time a comprehensive 'biography' of this crucial year in English history. The book examines political and cultural life in London, including the Jacobean court and the city, which together witnessed an exceptional outpouring of cultural experiences and transformative political events. The royal family had to confront the sudden death of Prince Henry, heir apparent to the throne, which provoked unparalleled grief. Meanwhile, an unprecedented number of plays performed at court helped move the country away from sadness to the happy occasion of Princess Elizabeth's marriage to a German prince. Shakespeare's productions dominated London's cultural landscape, while other playwrights, writers and printers produced an extraordinary number of books. Readers interested in literature, cultural history, and the royal family will find in this book a rich and accessible account of this monumental year. -- .