
Authorship and Authority
The Writings of James vi and I
Jane Rickard(Author)
Manchester University Press
Published on 30. June 2012
Book
Paperback/Softback
252 pages
978-0-7190-8779-0 (ISBN)
Description
James VI of Scotland and I of England participated in the burgeoning literary culture of the Renaissance, not only as a monarch and patron, but as an author in his own right, publishing extensively in a number of different genres over four decades. As the first monograph devoted to James as an author, this book offers a fresh perspective on his reigns in Scotland and England, and also on the inter-relationship of authorship and authority, literature and politics in the Renaissance.
Beginning with the poetry he wrote in Scotland in the 1580s, it moves through a wide range of his writings in other genres, including scriptural exegeses, political, social and theological treatises and printed speeches, concluding with his manuscript poetry of the early 1620s. The book combines extensive primary research into the preparation, material form and circulation of these varied writings, with theoretically informed consideration of the relationship between authors, texts and readers. The discussion thus explores James's responses to, and interventions in, a range of literary, political and religious debates, and reveals the development of his aims and concerns as an author.
Rickard argues that, despite the King's best efforts to the contrary, his writings expose the tensions and contradictions between authorship and authority. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of the reign of James VI and I, the literary and political cultures of late sixteenth-century Scotland and early seventeenth-century England, the development of notions of authorship and the relationship between literature and politics. -- .
Beginning with the poetry he wrote in Scotland in the 1580s, it moves through a wide range of his writings in other genres, including scriptural exegeses, political, social and theological treatises and printed speeches, concluding with his manuscript poetry of the early 1620s. The book combines extensive primary research into the preparation, material form and circulation of these varied writings, with theoretically informed consideration of the relationship between authors, texts and readers. The discussion thus explores James's responses to, and interventions in, a range of literary, political and religious debates, and reveals the development of his aims and concerns as an author.
Rickard argues that, despite the King's best efforts to the contrary, his writings expose the tensions and contradictions between authorship and authority. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of the reign of James VI and I, the literary and political cultures of late sixteenth-century Scotland and early seventeenth-century England, the development of notions of authorship and the relationship between literature and politics. -- .
Reviews / Votes
Rickard's book is ... welcome and long overdue ... a book that deserves attention from both literary scholars and historiansThis is a timely and valuable contribution to Jacobean literary scholarship which ... deserves to be widely read
an illuminating and much welcome study, which will prove indispensable to future students of the literary production of this most mysterious of kings
an authoritative and fascinating book ... Everyone at all interested in James VI and I ought to read it
Rickard's intriguing and accessible account certainly provides many new perspectives from which to view James's reign -- .
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Manchester
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
395 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7190-8779-0 (9780719087790)
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
Jane Rickard is Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds -- .
Content
Introduction: Reading James VI and I
1. Constructing the Writer-King: the early poetry
2. The word of God and the word of the King: the early scriptural exegeses
3. Print, authority, interpretation: the major prose works
4. Monumentalising the royal author: The Workes (1616)
5. The late poetry and the deconstruction of authority
Afterword
Bibliography
Index -- .
1. Constructing the Writer-King: the early poetry
2. The word of God and the word of the King: the early scriptural exegeses
3. Print, authority, interpretation: the major prose works
4. Monumentalising the royal author: The Workes (1616)
5. The late poetry and the deconstruction of authority
Afterword
Bibliography
Index -- .