Thomas Nashe and Late Elizabethan Writing
Thomas Nashe and Late Elizabethan Writing

Author: Andrew Hadfield

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2023-04-19

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1789147468

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A critical biography of one of the most celebrated prose stylists in early modern English. This book provides an overview of the life and work of the scandalous Renaissance writer Thomas Nashe (1567–c.1600), whose writings led to the closure of theaters and widespread book bans. Famous for his scurrilous novel, The Unfortunate Traveller (1594), Nashe also played a central role in early English theater, collaborating with Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare. Through religious controversies, pornographic poetry, and the bubonic plague, Andrew Hadfield traces the uproarious history of this celebrated English writer.

Liber amicorum H. R. Woudhuysen
Liber amicorum H. R. Woudhuysen

Author:

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-10-24

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0192699938

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Liber amicorum H. R. Woudhuysen: a Bibliographical Tribute is a Festschrift for Henry Woudhuysen, one of the most senior and influential early modernists, book historians, and scholarly editors of his day, who retires as Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, in 2024. It brings together essays by friends and colleagues spanning some 500 years of literary history, with a strong focus on texts and the people who produce them.

A Feast of Strange Opinions: Classical and Early Modern Paradoxes on the English Renaissance Stage 1.2
A Feast of Strange Opinions: Classical and Early Modern Paradoxes on the English Renaissance Stage 1.2

Author: Marco Duranti

Publisher: Skenè. Texts and Studies

Published: 2023-12-20

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 884676837X

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This volume originates as a continuation of the previous volume in the CEMP series (1.1) and aims at furthering scholarly interest in the nature and function of theatrical paradox in early modern plays, considering how classical paradoxical culture was received in Renaissance England. The book is articulated into three sections: the first, “Paradoxical Culture and Drama”, is devoted to an investigation of classical definitions of paradox and the dramatic uses of paradox in ancient Greek drama; the second, “Paradoxes in/of Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama” looks at the functions and uses of paradox in the play-texts of Shakespeare and his contemporaries; finally, the essays in “Paradoxes in Drama and the Digital” examine how the Digital Humanities can enrich our knowledge of paradoxes in classical and early modern drama.

Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer

Author: David Ekserdjian

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2023-07-25

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1789147840

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An exploration of the life and works of German artist Albrecht Dürer and his self-obsession. The Italian Renaissance birthed the modern sense of self, and no artist from the period compares with Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528) in terms of the almost obsessive interest he displayed in his own life. Dürer’s works are filled with personal details from his day-to-day, his dreams, and his escapades. In this brief biography, David Ekserdjian explores Dürer’s life and times—his studies, travels, and influences—as well as his paintings, drawings, and prints. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in Renaissance or Northern European art.

Ulisse Aldrovandi
Ulisse Aldrovandi

Author: Peter Mason

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2023-06-17

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1789147484

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A critical biography of the early modern Italian naturalist. The Bolognese naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi was a prolific writer, polymath, and prodigious collector who amassed the largest collection of naturalia in sixteenth-century Europe, as well as hundreds of colored drawings detailing them. Many of these drawings found their way into his illustrated publications, most of which were published posthumously. This book provides a concise yet comprehensive portrait of Aldrovandi, paying particular attention to two aspects: the role that the newly discovered continent of America played in his research interests, and his study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms. Peter Mason gives insight into Aldrovandi’s fascinating life, his early work on antiquities, his natural history and other collecting activities, his network of correspondents and patrons, and the influence and legacy of his collection and publications.

Jan van Eyck within His Art
Jan van Eyck within His Art

Author: Alfred Acres

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2023-09-11

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1789147611

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A new assessment of the inventive and influential artist Jan van Eyck. Jan van Eyck (1390–1441) was one of the most inventive and influential artists in the entire European tradition. The realism of his paintings continues to astound observers more than six centuries on, even though our world is saturated by high-resolution images. However, viewers today are as like to be absorbed by Van Eyck’s personality as his realism. While he sometimes directly painted himself into his works, he also suggested his presence through an array of inscriptions, signatures, and even a personal motto. Incorporating a wealth of new research and recent discoveries within a fresh exploration of the paintings themselves, this book reveals how profoundly Jan van Eyck transformed the very idea of what an artist could be.

Descartes
Descartes

Author: Steven Nadler

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2023-04-19

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1789147301

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A critical biography of René Descartes, whose first principle (“I think therefore I am.”) reshaped modern philosophy. Often called the father of modern philosophy, René Descartes set the intellectual agenda for seventeenth-century philosophy, mathematics, natural science, and beyond. In this critical biography, based on compelling new research, Steven Nadler follows Descartes from his early education in France to the Dutch Republic, where he lived most of his adult life, to his final months as a tutor to Queen Christina of Sweden. Along the way, Nadler shows how Descartes renewed philosophy by transforming fundamental assumptions about the cosmos, natural world, and human nature as well as how his work continues to generate new insights into many of the metaphysical and epistemological problems that engage philosophers today.

Shakespeare's borrowed feathers
Shakespeare's borrowed feathers

Author: Darren Freebury-Jones

Publisher: Manchester University Press

Published: 2024-10-08

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 1526177315

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A fascinating book exploring the early modern authors who helped to shape Shakespeare’s beloved plays. Shakespeare’s plays have influenced generations of writers, but who were the early modern playwrights who influenced him? Using the latest techniques in textual analysis Shakespeare's borrowed feathers offers a fresh look at William Shakespeare and reveals the influence of a community of playwrights that shaped his work. This compelling book argues that we need to see early modern drama as a communal enterprise, with playwrights borrowing from and adapting one another's work. From John Lyly's wit to the collaborative genius of John Fletcher, to Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson, Shakespeare's borrowed feathers offers fresh insights into Shakespeare’s artistic development and shows us new ways of looking at the masterpieces that have enchanted audiences for centuries.

Lucas Cranach
Lucas Cranach

Author: Jennifer Nelson

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2024-06-05

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 1789148936

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A revealing new account of the life and work of this early modern German printmaker. This captivating biography brings Lucas Cranach the Elder into the spotlight for the twenty-first century. The illuminating narrative unveils an artist whose vision transcended personal brilliance, seeking rather to elevate his nascent nation. Perhaps Cranach’s most remarkable achievement lay in forging a robust Lutheran community around his work. Using prints, the prevailing medium of mass communication, he developed an intricate symbolism that resonated with the populace in early modern Germany. On the other hand, Cranach also produced many paintings of female nudes, which this book returns to their central place in the artist’s life as symbols of Germany’s rich cultural connections with ancient Greece and Rome.

Aldus Manutius
Aldus Manutius

Author: Oren Margolis

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2024-01-15

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1789148294

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A fresh reading of Aldus Manutius, preeminent in the history of the printed book. Aldus Manutius is perhaps the greatest figure in the history of the printed book: in Venice, Europe’s capital of printing, he invented the italic type and issued more first editions of the classics than anyone before or since, as well as Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, the most beautiful and mysterious printed book of the Italian Renaissance. This is the first monograph in English on Aldus Manutius in over forty years. It shows how Aldus redefined the role of a book printer, from mere manual laborer to a learned publisher. As a consequence, Aldus participated in the same debates as contemporaries such as Leonardo da Vinci and Erasmus of Rotterdam, making this book an insight into their world too.