
Unprinted
Reading and Meaning in Early Modern Iberia
Heather Bamford(Author)
University of Toronto Press
Published on 13. January 2026
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-4875-5402-6 (ISBN)
Description
A careful investigation into the history and meaning of reading, Unprinted dives into the rich culture of unprinted manuscripts in early modern Iberia.
Spanish literature scholar Heather Bamford studies the meaning of reading and the activities it comprises through the aporia of texts whose principal point of contact was being left unprinted or never destined for the press. Early modern Spain was a period of burgeoning arts, the forced conversion and expulsion of Jews and Muslims, and the enslavement of North and sub-Saharan Africans, Turks from Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire, North African Muslims, and Moriscos (Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity). Each of these groups contributed to an Iberian history of reading.
The book structures a critical intervention into the scholarly categories of reading practices, manuscript and print culture, and material text, as well as a historical deep dive into a rare and compelling history. Unprinted cites a unique archive of personal notebooks and compilations of magic, poetry, and theatre, in addition to other unprinted writings that circulated among Christians and religious minorities in early modern Spain. Through her analysis of manuscript texts, Bamford redefines the meaning of reading itself and explores the possibilities that results from that often-revolutionary act.
Spanish literature scholar Heather Bamford studies the meaning of reading and the activities it comprises through the aporia of texts whose principal point of contact was being left unprinted or never destined for the press. Early modern Spain was a period of burgeoning arts, the forced conversion and expulsion of Jews and Muslims, and the enslavement of North and sub-Saharan Africans, Turks from Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire, North African Muslims, and Moriscos (Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity). Each of these groups contributed to an Iberian history of reading.
The book structures a critical intervention into the scholarly categories of reading practices, manuscript and print culture, and material text, as well as a historical deep dive into a rare and compelling history. Unprinted cites a unique archive of personal notebooks and compilations of magic, poetry, and theatre, in addition to other unprinted writings that circulated among Christians and religious minorities in early modern Spain. Through her analysis of manuscript texts, Bamford redefines the meaning of reading itself and explores the possibilities that results from that often-revolutionary act.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Illustrations
11 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 163 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
436 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4875-5402-6 (9781487554026)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Heather Bamford is an assistant professor of Spanish literature at George Washington University.
Content
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1. Reading Culture, Practices, and Uses in Early Modern Humanism
2. Early Modern Reading and Meaning through Magic
3. Out of Practice: Prophecy, Miracle, and Truth Hermeneutic
4. The Material and the Literary in the Theory of Material Text
Epilogue
Bibliography
Introduction
1. Reading Culture, Practices, and Uses in Early Modern Humanism
2. Early Modern Reading and Meaning through Magic
3. Out of Practice: Prophecy, Miracle, and Truth Hermeneutic
4. The Material and the Literary in the Theory of Material Text
Epilogue
Bibliography