This is a comprehensive history of English literature written in Britain between the Reformation and the Restoration. While it focuses on England, literary effort in Scotland and Ireland is also covered, with occasional references to Wales and Ireland. This literary history by an international team of scholars is essential reading for students and scholars of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature, culture, and history.

The discovery and re-examination of women authors has been a key part of early modern women's studies, but a major problem has been the inaccessibility of the texts themselves. This series is designed to make available a comprehensive collection of writing in English from 1500 to 1700, both by women and for and about them. Each text is preceded by a short introduction providing an overview of the life and work of the writer, along with a survey of important relevant scholarship. The series is in two parts, covering the periods 1500 to 1640, and 1641 to 1700. It is complemented by a separate facsimile series of essential works and original monographs.

This 2003 book is a full-scale history of early modern English literature, offering perspectives on English literature produced in Britain between the Reformation and the Restoration. While providing the general coverage and specific information expected of a major history, its twenty-six chapters address recent methodological and interpretive developments in English literary studies. The book has five sections: 'Modes and Means of Literary Production, Circulation, and Reception', 'The Tudor Era from the Reformation to Elizabeth I', 'The Era of Elizabeth and James VI', 'The Earlier Stuart Era', and 'The Civil War and Commonwealth Era'. While England is the principal focus, literary production in Scotland, Ireland and Wales is treated, as are other subjects less frequently examined in previous histories, including women's writings and the literature of the English Reformation and Revolution. This history is an essential resource for specialists and students.

This long-awaited and masterfully edited volume contains nearly all of the writings of Queen Elizabeth I: the clumsy letters of childhood, the early speeches of a fledgling queen, and the prayers and poetry of the monarch's later years. The first collection of its kind, "Elizabeth I" reveals brilliance on two counts: that of the Queen, a dazzling writer and a leading intellect of the English Renaissance, and that of the editors, whose copious annotations make the book not only essential to scholars but accessible to general readers as well.

The John Donne volume in the 21st-Century Oxford Authors series offers a wholly new edition of Donne's verse and prose. It consists of a selection of the compositions that circulated in manuscript or in print form during Donne's lifetime. In keeping with the approach of the series, the texts are presented in chronological order and the text chosen is, wherever possible, the text of the first published version. Each text is paired with a generous complement of historical and textual annotation, which enables the present day reader to access the excitement with which Donne's contemporaries, his first readers, discovered his famous and incomparable originality, audacity, ingenuity, and wit. The edition incorporates new directions and emphases in scholarly editing that are foregrounded in the 21st-Century Oxford Authors series, such as the history of readership and the history of texts as material objects.

This volume in the 21st Century Oxford Authors series offers students and readers a comprehensive selection of the work of John Donne (1572-1631). Accompanied by full scholarly apparatus, this authoritative edition enables students to study Donne's work in the order in which it was written, and, wherever possible, using the text of the first published version. The volume presents a wholly new edition of Donne's verse and prose, consisting of a selection of Donne's compositions that circulated in manuscript or in print form during his lifetime. Each text is paired with a generous complement of historical and textual annotation, which enables students to access and appreciate the excitement with which Donne's contemporaries-his first readers-discovered his famous and incomparable originality, audacity, ingenuity, and wit. The edition incorporates new directions and emphases in scholarly editing that equip students with a better understanding of the texts and the contexts in which they were produced, such as the history of readership and the history of texts as material objects. Explanatory notes and commentary are included, to enhance the study, understanding, and enjoyment of these works, and the edition includes an Introduction to the life and works of Donne, and a Chronology.