
Bess of Hardwick's Letters
Language, Materiality, and Early Modern Epistolary Culture
Alison Wiggins(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 25. November 2016
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-1-4094-6129-6 (ISBN)
Description
Bess of Hardwick's Letters is the first book-length study of the c. 250 letters to and from the remarkable Elizabethan dynast, matriarch and builder of houses Bess of Hardwick (c. 1527-1608). By surveying the complete correspondence, author Alison Wiggins uncovers the wide range of uses to which Bess put letters: they were vital to her engagement in the overlapping realms of politics, patronage, business, legal negotiation, news-gathering and domestic life. Much more than a case study of Bess's letters, the discussions of language, handwriting and materiality found here have fundamental implications for the way we approach and read Renaissance letters. Wiggins offers readings which show how Renaissance letters communicated meaning through the interweaving linguistic, palaeographic and material forms, according to socio-historical context and function. The study goes beyond the letters themselves and incorporates a range of historical sources to situate circumstances of production and reception, which include Account Books, inventories, needlework and textile art and architecture. The study is therefore essential reading for scholars in historical linguistics, historical pragmatics, palaeography and manuscript studies, material culture, English literature and social history.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
22 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 22 s/w Abbildungen
22 Halftones, black and white; 22 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
552 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4094-6129-6 (9781409461296)
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
01/2019
1st Edition
Routledge
€72.50
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
11/2016
Routledge
€65.99
Available for download

E-Book
11/2016
Routledge
€65.99
Available for download
Person
Alison Wiggins is a senior lecturer in English Language at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Content
Table of Contents to come