Thomas Wyatt is the finest English poet between Chaucer and the Elizabethans. Many poems have been wrongly attributed to him, however, and the authenticity of different versions of his lyrics has been a matter of dispute. Richard Harrier makes a significant contribution both by establishing accurate texts and by determining the canon itself. The only solid foundation for the Wyatt canon is his personal copybook, the Egerton MS, here reproduced in a diplomatic text. The apparatus records all changes within the manuscript and all contemporary variants; explanatory notes are provided. This volume, which includes a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the sources, will stand as the ultimate authority for the text and canon of Wyatt's poems.
Thomas Wyatt (1503?-1542) was the first modern voice in English poetry. 'Chieftain' of a 'new company of courtly makers', he brought the Italian poetic Renaissance to England, but he was also revered as prophet-poet of the Reformation. His poetry holds a mirror to the secret, capricious world of Henry VIII's court, and alludes darkly to events which it might be death to describe. In the Tower, twice, Wyatt was betrayed and betrayer. This remarkably original biography is more - and less - than a Life, for Wyatt is so often elusive, in flight, like his Petrarchan lover, into the 'heart's forest'. Rather, it is an evocation of Wyatt among his friends, and his enemies, at princely courts in England, Italy, France and Spain, or alone in contemplative retreat. Following the sources - often new discoveries, from many archives - as far as they lead, Susan Brigden seeks Wyatt in his 'diverseness', and explores his seeming confessions of love and faith and politics. Supposed, at the time and since, to be the lover of Anne Boleyn, he was also the devoted 'slave' of Katherine of Aragon. Aspiring to honesty, he was driven to secrets and lies, and forced to live with the moral and mortal consequences of his shifting allegiances. As ambassador to Emperor Charles V, he enjoyed favour, but his embassy turned to nightmare when the Pope called for a crusade against the English King and sent the Inquisition against Wyatt. At Henry VIII's court, where only silence brought safety, Wyatt played the idealized lover, but also tried to speak truth to power. Wyatt's life, lived so restlessly and intensely, provides a way to examine a deep questioning at the beginning of the Renaissance and Reformation in England. Above all, this new biography is attuned to Wyatt's dissonant voice and broken lyre, the paradox within him of inwardness and the will to 'make plain' his heart, all of which make him exceptionally difficult to know - and fascinating to explore.
Hans Holbein is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 16th century. Accompanying a major Tate exhibition, this work gives insights into the artist's movements between the 1520s and '40s, when he moved from Germany and Switzerland to England, with insights into his working methods and techniques.
A King who would not be denied, a woman who would be Queen - and a gentle poet forced to watch helplessly as his one true love slips out of his arms forever. Throughout the course of Anne's tumultuous and tragic life, her cousin Thomas Wyatt is a meticulous narrator, reporting the events around him with the keen eye and tender heart of a poet. "Though framed as an account of arguably the most famous of Henry VIII's six wives, Dear Heart, How like You This? is far more than another re-telling of a well-trodden tale. For entwined with the glamorous, ultimately tragic, story of Anne Boleyn's life and death, is that of an inherently good man's struggle with the evils of his time, and of the toll that is often exacted of those who finds themselves immersed in the sweeping tides of historical change." - C. W. Gortner "I would recommend Dear Heart to anyone who enjoys a love story or who has even a passing interest in English history. It is a beautifully written novel of love and betrayal. In fact, I'm off to read it again, just as soon as I dry my eyes." - Debra Stang. www.adistantmirror.press www.wendyjdunn.com
