Literature and Nature in the English Renaissance
An Ecocritical Anthology
Published on 18. March 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
626 pages
978-1-316-64953-4 (ISBN)
Description
Featuring over two hundred nature-themed texts spanning the disciplines of literature, science and history, this sourcebook offers an accessible field guide to the environment of Renaissance England, revealing a nation at a crossroads between its pastoral heritage and industrialized future. Carefully selected primary sources, each modernized and prefaced with an introduction, survey an encyclopaedic array of topographies, species, and topics: from astrology to zoology, bear-baiting to bee-keeping, coal-mining to tree-planting, fen-draining to sheep-whispering. The familiar voices of Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, and Marvell mingle with a diverse chorus of farmers, herbalists, shepherds, hunters, foresters, philosophers, sailors, sky-watchers, and duchesses - as well as ventriloquized beasts, trees, and rivers. Lavishly illustrated, the anthology is supported by a lucid introduction that outlines and intervenes in key debates in Renaissance ecocriticism, a reflective essay on ecocritical editing, a bibliography of further reading, and a timeline of environmental history and legislation drawing on extensive archival research.
Reviews / Votes
'A beautifully scholarly compendium ... Nothing I've read in this year of climate catastrophe made me think more.' Daniel Swift, The Spectator 'Borlick's anthology is beautifully crafted, celebrates the wonders of nature, and warns of the dire consequences of the mistreatment of the natural world.' Rachel White, The British Society for Literature and Science '... illustrates the rich diversity and complexity of English Renaissance thinking about the interrelationship between nature and humanity.' B. E. Brandt, Choice '... a timely scholarly tool that will be indispensable to any new research on nature in early modern English writing.' Goran Stanivukovic, Renaissance et ReformeMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises; 11 Halftones, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
893 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-316-64953-4 (9781316649534)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
06/2019
Cambridge University Press
€134.90
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Content
Part I. Cosmologies: Section 1. Creation and the State of Nature; Section 2. Natural Theologies; Part II. The Tangled Chain; Section 1. Hierarchy and the Human Animal; Section 2. Beasts; Section 3. Birds; Section 4. Fish; Section 5. Insects; Section 6. Plants; Section 7. Gems, Metals, Elements, Atoms; Part III. Time and Place; Section 1. Seasons; Section 2. Country Houses; Section 3. Gardens; Section 4. Pastoral: Pastures, Meadows, Plains; Sections 5. Georgic: Fields, Farms; Section 6. Forests, Woods, Parks; Section 7. Heaths, Moors; Section 8. Mountains, Hills, Vales; Section 9. Lakes, Rivers, Oceans; Part IV. Interactions; Section 1. Animal- Baiting; Section 2. Hunting, Hawking; Section 3. Fishing; Section 4. Pet-Keeping; Section 5. Cooking, Feasting, Fasting, Healing; Part V. Environmental Problems in Early Modern England; Section 1. Population; Section 2. Enclosure; Section 3. Deforestation; Section 4. The Draining of the Fens; Section 5. Pollution; Part VI. Disaster and Resilience in the Little Ice Age; Section 1. Extreme Weather, Disorder, Dearth; Section 2. Decay; Section 3. Resilience.