DOCSLIB.ORG

Dreams in Early Modern England: Frameworks of Interpretation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Dreams in Early Modern England: Frameworks of Interpretation Dreams in Early Modern England: Frameworks of Interpretation by Janine Rivière A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of PhD Graduate Department of History, University of Toronto. © Copyright by Janine Rivière (2013) Abstract Dreams in Early Modern England: Frameworks of Interpretation, PhD (2013), Janine Rivière, Graduate Department of History, University of Toronto. While dreams as visions have received much attention from historians, less work has been undertaken on understanding more commonly experienced dreams that occurred in sleep. In this dissertation I seek to begin redressing this neglect. Two overarching questions focus the dissertation: How did early modern English people understand their dreams? And did these understandings change in response to significant developments in English culture? To answer these questions I explore early modern English theories, beliefs and experiences of dreams through a close study of key medical, demonological, philosophical, spiritual, oneirocritic and private writings. I suggest that in the period 1550-1750 there were three principal frameworks used to understand dreams: (1) health of the body and mind, (2) prediction and (3) spirituality. These three frameworks coexisted, either reinforcing or contesting one another throughout the period. The framework of health saw dreams as natural products of the body and mind that revealed the overall health of the dreamer. In the model of prediction, dreams were deemed significant, yet encoded, clues to the future that required careful interpretation. Finally, in spiritual frameworks, dreams were conceived as sent by God, angels or the Devil. Since early modern English writings reveal a diversity of natural and supernatural theories about dreams that never really “declined,” a study of them also helps to complicate ideas about the “disenchantment of the world." Finally, I also suggest that early modern English writings on dreams reveal the perceived vulnerability of the dreamer to internal and external forces. Dreams were a locus where the boundaries between the human and divine, supernatural and natural, met and merged, making the individual vulnerable to a host of external and internal forces. ii Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to my doctoral committee, Jane Abray, Barbara Todd and Nicholas Terpstra. During my doctorate I have also benefited from the support and advice of Doris Bergen and Ken Mills at University of Toronto's Department of History. Since my dissertation was born of my earlier research on dreams, my thanks are also due to Sarah Ferber and Lyndal Roper for their intellectual mentorship during my Master of Philosophy at the University of Queensland. No dissertation emerges into the light of day without a vast number of proofreaders and I also wish to note here the many other readers. In particular, I would like to thank Shealah Stratton, Serge Rivière, Alexandra Guerson, Julie Gilmour, Wilson Bell and Dorothy Rivière. For their in-depth reading and constructive criticism, I also owe my sincere thanks to Ann Marie Plane and Alexandra Walsham. In addition, I would also like to recognize the intellectual and financial support I received from the School of Graduate Studies and History Department at the University of Toronto, as well as the National Humanities Center, Collegium Budapest, and the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University. Most especially, I have profoundly benefitted from the interdisciplinary workshops I was privileged to be part of, "The Vision Thing: Studying Divine Intervention," funded by the National Humanities Center and organised by the scholars William A. Christian Jr. and Gábor Klaniczay. These advanced workshops were invaluable in the early brainstorming of the dissertation and exposed me to the wonderful research of other young scholars also working on dreams and visions. Here, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the "Visioneers" for all their astute comments, vibrant conversations and collegiality. iii Additionally, I wish to thank my colleagues and friends, most especially: Heidi Diepstra, Shealah Stratton, Alexandra Guerson, Alan Bell, Kate Gibbons, Sarah Amato, Anna Hajkova, John Christopoulos, Stewart Nethery, Vanessa McCarthy and Julie Gilmour. Finally, for their enduring emotional and financial support throughout the PhD, I wish to dedicate this thesis to my parents, Dorothy and Serge Rivière, and to my sister, Natalie Rivière. Janine Rivière iv Table of Contents: Abstract ii Acknowledgments iii Table of Contents v Introduction 1 Chapter 1: "Seasons of Sleep:" Natural Dreams, Health and the Physiology of Sleep 26 in Early Modern England Chapter 2: Dream Divination and Thomas Hill's The moste pleasante arte of 64 the interpretacion of dreames Chapter 3: Spiritual Frameworks: Philip Goodwin's The mystery of dreames and 107 the Pastoral Care of the Soul Chapter 4: The Nightmare in Premodern England 157 Conclusion 205 Bibliography 215 v Introduction Being about Six Years of Age, I had a Dream, wherein it pleased God to shew me the Kingdom of Love, and the Kingdom of Darkness. I thought that God appeared to me and talked with me Face to Face, in a very friendly and loving manner. Not long after I had another Dream, wherein methought the Devil stood before me, and scourged me. Thomas Tryon, Some memoirs of the life of Mr. Tho. Tryon ... (1705).1 At the end of his life, Thomas Tryon (1634–1703), a self-educated hatter and writer, reflected on these two remarkable dreams from his childhood that “made so firm an impression on my Mind, as neither Time, nor the cares and business of this World, could obliterate.”2 Even after a successful career writing handbooks on husbandry, health and education, Tryon still remembered these early dreams. Inspired by these experiences, he published his own handbook, A treatise of dreams & visions (1689), in which he aimed to provide readers with a comprehensive understanding of dreams.3 Tryon was not alone in recording and seriously contemplating his dreams. Numerous other early modern English men and women also recorded and discussed their dreams. Yet, how did early modern men and women understand dreams? As this dissertation will show, a diversity of ideas about dreams circulated in England during the early modern period. Discussions of dreams appear in numerous discourses and printed works, spanning fields from medicine to demonology and astrology to religion. Considerations of dreams appear in many of the works of the most prominent thinkers from the period. Francis Bacon, Robert Burton, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Browne, John Locke and David Hume all discussed dreams, albeit 1 Thomas Tryon, Some memoirs of the life of Mr. Tho. Tryon ... (London: Printed by T. Sowle, 1705), 8– 9. 2 Ibid. 3 Thomas Tryon, A treatise of dreams & visions ... (London: s.n., 1689), 8. 1 2 briefly, as part of their larger intellectual concerns.4 However, as I will demonstrate, in addition to Tryon, English authors Thomas Hill (1528–1572/6) and Philip Goodwin (d. 1667) published substantive treatises devoted entirely to understanding the origin, meaning and interpretation of dreams.5 These works took dreams as their sole focus and endeavoured to provide comprehensive understandings of dreams drawing from classical and contemporary medical, philosophical, theological and oneirocritical ideas. As well as these lengthy scholarly texts, short and cheap oneirocritic manuals or dreambooks also circulated throughout the period. Most were debased and abridged English editions of Artemidorus of Daldis’ Oneirocritica and popular medieval dreambooks, such as the Somnia Danielis.6 English dreambooks offered readers a brief interpretation of dreams according to specific dream-symbols that were organized thematically for easy reference. These dream-symbols were interpreted as clues to the dreamer’s future fortune. In the section of dreams of the loss of teeth, for example, one would find a brief interpretation that such a dream predicted the loss of friends. Examples of English dreambooks include Thomas Hill’s A little 4 Francis Bacon, Of the advancement and proficience of learning ... (London: Printed by Leon Lichfield for Rob Young & Ed Forrest, 1640), 434; Robert Burton, The anatomy of melancholy ... (Oxford: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, 1621), 99–101, 160; Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (London: Penguin, 1985), 344, 429; Thomas Browne, The Religio Medici and Other Writings (London: J.M. Dent, 1962), 83–86; John Locke, An Essay on Human Understanding (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964), 10, 133; David Hume, Enquiries Concerning the Human Understanding (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957), 49. 5 Thomas Hill, The moste pleasuante arte of the interpretacion of dreames ... (London: Printed by Thomas Marshe, 1576); Tryon, Treatise of dreams & visions; Philip Goodwin, The mystery of dreames, historically discoursed ... (London: Printed by A.M. for Francis Tyton, 1658). 6 Artemidorus, The Interpretation of Dreams: Oneirocritica, trans. Robert J. White (Park Ridge, New Jersey: Noyes Classical Studies, 1975); S.R.F. Price, “The Future of Dreams: From Freud to Artemidorus,” Past and Present 113 (1986): 3–37; Artemidorus, The interpretation of dreams digested into five books by that ancient and excellent philosopher, Artemidorus (London: Printed for B.G. and S.K, 1690); Lawrence T. Martin, “The Earliest Versions of the Latin ‘Somniale Danielis’,” Manuscripta XXIII (1979): 131–141; Interpretiatiiones
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Book Reviews Importantly (And Despite Alienists' Claims to the Contrary), That the Choice Between Them Was (And Remains) Inherently Evaluative
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by PubMed Central Book Reviews importantly (and despite alienists' claims to the contrary), that the choice between them was (and remains) inherently evaluative. Alienists who attempted to dispute this last point were repeatedly impeached by their own inability to agree on a diagnosis. The embarrassment of having eminent men testify that the same individual was both unambiguously mad and unquestionably sane was something the profession felt deeply but could never adequately resolve. Moreover, medico-psychological descriptions of the accused's actions exhibited striking similarities to commonsense, everyday descriptions of conduct, something that was not to be hidden by incantations of scientific truth and appeals to physicalist causation. Nor, in the last analysis, did alienists possess "the requisite standing for the public acceptance of 'clinical facts.' " (p. 40). Smith's discussion of these issues is notable for its empirical richness and theoretical sophistication. The scope of his research is impressive and its presentation is for the most part skilfully handled. Trial by medicine is consequently a major contribution to our understanding of medico-legal history. Andrew Scull University of California, San Diego MICHAEL MACDONALD, Mystical Bedlam. Madness, anxiety, and healing in seventeenth- century England, Cambridge University Press, 1981, 8vo, pp. x, 323, £27.50. Many of the most exciting historical studies of the past decade have exploited caches of manuscript material which illuminate social realities, mental structures, or off-stage activities not visible through printed historical sources. Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie's Montaillou, Carlo Ginzburg's The cheese and the worms, and Robert Darnton's The business of Enlightenment are three examples noteworthy for their imaginative use of these raw materials of history.
    [Show full text]
  • The History, Printing, and Editing of the Returne from Pernassus
    W&M ScholarWorks Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 1-2009 The History, Printing, and Editing of The Returne from Pernassus Christopher A. Adams College of William and Mary Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses Recommended Citation Adams, Christopher A., "The History, Printing, and Editing of The Returne from Pernassus" (2009). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 237. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/237 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The History, Printing, and Editing of The Returne from Pernassus A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in English from The College of William and Mary by Christopher A. Adams Accepted for____________________________ (Honors, High Honors, Highest Honors ) _________________________ ___________________________ Paula Blank , Director Monica Potkay , Committee Chair English Department English Department _________________________ ___________________________ Erin Minear George Greenia English Department Modern Language Department Williamsburg, VA December, 2008 1 The History, Printing, and Editing of The Returne from Pernassus 2 Dominus illuminatio mea -ceiling panels of Duke Humfrey’s Library, Oxford 3 Acknowledgments I am deeply indebted to my former adviser, Dr. R. Carter Hailey, for starting me on this pilgrimage with the Parnassus plays. He not only introduced me to the world of Parnassus , but also to the wider world of bibliography. Through his help and guidance I have discovered a fascinating field of research.
    [Show full text]
  • Verse and Transmutation History of Science and Medicine Library
    Verse and Transmutation History of Science and Medicine Library VOLUME 42 Medieval and Early Modern Science Editors J.M.M.H. Thijssen, Radboud University Nijmegen C.H. Lüthy, Radboud University Nijmegen Editorial Consultants Joël Biard, University of Tours Simo Knuuttila, University of Helsinki Jürgen Renn, Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science Theo Verbeek, University of Utrecht VOLUME 21 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/hsml Verse and Transmutation A Corpus of Middle English Alchemical Poetry (Critical Editions and Studies) By Anke Timmermann LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 On the cover: Oswald Croll, La Royalle Chymie (Lyons: Pierre Drobet, 1627). Title page (detail). Roy G. Neville Historical Chemical Library, Chemical Heritage Foundation. Photo by James R. Voelkel. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Timmermann, Anke. Verse and transmutation : a corpus of Middle English alchemical poetry (critical editions and studies) / by Anke Timmermann. pages cm. – (History of Science and Medicine Library ; Volume 42) (Medieval and Early Modern Science ; Volume 21) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-90-04-25484-8 (hardback : acid-free paper) – ISBN 978-90-04-25483-1 (e-book) 1. Alchemy–Sources. 2. Manuscripts, English (Middle) I. Title. QD26.T63 2013 540.1'12–dc23 2013027820 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1872-0684 ISBN 978-90-04-25484-8 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-25483-1 (e-book) Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
    [Show full text]
  • Empowering Popularity: the Fuel Behind a Witch-Hunt
    EMPOWERING POPULARITY: THE FUEL BEHIND A WITCH-HUNT ________________________________ A Thesis Presented to The Honors Tutorial College Ohio University ________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for Graduation From the Honors Tutorial College With the degree of Bachelor of Arts in History ________________________________ Written by Grace Konyar April 2017 Table of Contents List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………….2 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….3 Chapter One………………………………………………………………………..10 Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: The Development of Witchcraft as a Gendered Crime Chapter Two………………………………………………………………………………...31 The World Turned Upside Down: The Fragility of the Suffolk and Essex Witch-Hunts Chapter Three ……………………………………………………………………………...52 That Would Be Enough: The Tipping Point of Spectral Evidence Chapter Four………………………………………………………………………74 Satisfied: The Balance of Ethics and Fame Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….93 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………..97 1 List of Figures Image 1: Frontispiece, Matthew Hopkins, The Discovery of Witches, London, 1647…...........................................................................................................................40 Image 2: Indictment document 614 of the Essex Summer Sessions for Maria Sterling. Courtesy of The National Archives- Kew, ASSI 35/86/1/72. Photograph by the author………………………………………………………………………………....41 Image 3: Frontispiece, A True Relation of the Araignment of eighteen Witches, London, 1945……………………………………...……….…………………………48
    [Show full text]
  • Medicine, Astrology, and Written Records
    Casebooks in Early Modern England: Medicine, Astrology, and Written Records Lauren Kassell Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Volume 88, Number 4, Winter 2014, pp. 595-625 (Article) Published by Johns Hopkins University Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2014.0066 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/564670 [ Access provided at 5 Oct 2021 13:50 GMT with no institutional affiliation ] Casebooks in Early Modern England: Medicine, Astrology, and Written Records LAUREN KASSELL Summary: Casebooks are the richest sources that we have for encounters between early modern medical practitioners and their patients. This article compares astrological and medical records across two centuries, focused on England, and charts developments in the ways in which practitioners kept records and reflected on their practices. Astrologers had a long history of working from particular moments, stellar configurations, and events to general rules. These practices required systematic notation. Physicians increasingly modeled themselves on Hip- pocrates, recording details of cases as the basis for reasoned expositions of the histories of disease. Medical records, as other scholars have demonstrated, shaped the production of medical knowledge. Instead, this article focuses on the nature of casebooks as artifacts of the medical encounter. It establishes that casebooks were serial records of practice, akin to diaries, testimonials, and registers; identi- fies extant English casebooks and the practices that led to their production and preservation; and concludes that the processes of writing, ordering, and preserv- ing medical records are as important for understanding the medical encounter as the records themselves. Keywords: casebooks, medical records, astrology, paper technologies, cases, patients, Simon Forman, Richard Napier This research has been supported by the Wellcome Trust, through an Enhancement Award 2004–9 and a Strategic Award 2009–14 on “Generation to Reproduction” (grants 074298 and 088708).
    [Show full text]
  • Huguenot Merchants Settled in England 1644 Who Purchased Lincolnshire Estates in the 18Th Century, and Acquired Ayscough Estates by Marriage
    List of Parliamentary Families 51 Boucherett Origins: Huguenot merchants settled in England 1644 who purchased Lincolnshire estates in the 18th century, and acquired Ayscough estates by marriage. 1. Ayscough Boucherett – Great Grimsby 1796-1803 Seats: Stallingborough Hall, Lincolnshire (acq. by mar. c. 1700, sales from 1789, demolished first half 19th c.); Willingham Hall (House), Lincolnshire (acq. 18th c., built 1790, demolished c. 1962) Estates: Bateman 5834 (E) 7823; wealth in 1905 £38,500. Notes: Family extinct 1905 upon the death of Jessie Boucherett (in ODNB). BABINGTON Origins: Landowners at Bavington, Northumberland by 1274. William Babington had a spectacular legal career, Chief Justice of Common Pleas 1423-36. (Payling, Political Society in Lancastrian England, 36-39) Five MPs between 1399 and 1536, several kts of the shire. 1. Matthew Babington – Leicestershire 1660 2. Thomas Babington – Leicester 1685-87 1689-90 3. Philip Babington – Berwick-on-Tweed 1689-90 4. Thomas Babington – Leicester 1800-18 Seat: Rothley Temple (Temple Hall), Leicestershire (medieval, purch. c. 1550 and add. 1565, sold 1845, remod. later 19th c., hotel) Estates: Worth £2,000 pa in 1776. Notes: Four members of the family in ODNB. BACON [Frank] Bacon Origins: The first Bacon of note was son of a sheepreeve, although ancestors were recorded as early as 1286. He was a lawyer, MP 1542, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal 1558. Estates were purchased at the Dissolution. His brother was a London merchant. Eldest son created the first baronet 1611. Younger son Lord Chancellor 1618, created a viscount 1621. Eight further MPs in the 16th and 17th centuries, including kts of the shire for Norfolk and Suffolk.
    [Show full text]
  • A Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the Biography, Genealogy, History and Antiquities of Essex County, Massachusetts
    A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE BIOGRAPHY, GENEALOGY, HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF ESSEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS SIDNEY PERLEY, EDITOR ILLUSTRATED SALEM, MASS. Qbt Qtsse~Bntiqaarfan 1905 CONTENTS. ANswEns, 88, r43; 216, 47; 393, 48; 306, 95; EWETI, MRS. ANN,Will of, 159. 307, 95; 3149 95; 425, 191 ; 4387 191; 44% f EWBTT, JOSEPH,Will of, 113. 143. LAMBERT,FRANCIS, Will of, 36. BANK,T?IS LAND, 135. LAMBERT,JANE, Will of, 67. BAY VIEW CEM~ERY,*GLOUCESTEX, INSCPIP- LAND BANK, The, 135. n0NS IN. 68. LANESVILLB,GWUCBSTBII, INSCRIPTIONS IN BEUY NOTBS,25, 86. OLD CEMETERYAT, 106. B~sco.ELIZABETH, 108. ~THA'SVINEYARD, ESSEX COUNTY MEN AT, BISHOPNOTES, I 13. BEFORE 1700, 134. BLANCHAWGENEAL~GIES, 26, 71. NEW PUBLICATIONS,48,95, 143, 192. BUSY GBNBALOCY,32. NORFOLK COUNTY RECORDS,OW, 137. BLASDIULGENRALOGY, 49. OLDNORFOLK COUNTY RECORDS, 137. B~vmGENSUOGY, I I o. PARRUT,FRANCIS, Will of, 66. BLYTHGENEALOGY, I 12. PEABODY,REV. OLIVER.23. BOARDMAN 145. PBASLEY, JOSEPH,Wd of, 123. ~DwSLLGENMLOOY, 171. PERKINS,JOHN, Will of, 45. BOND GENBALOGY,177. PIKE, JOHN,SR, Wi of, 64. BRIDGE, THS OLD,161. PISCATAQUAPIONEERS, 191. BROWNB,RICHARD, Will of, 160. &SEX COUNTY MEN AT ARTHA HA'S VINEYARD 143; 451, 45% 191. swoas 1700, 134. ROGEILS.REV. EZEKIEL,Will of, 104. CLOU-R INSCRIPTIONS: ROGERSREV. NATHANIEL. Wi of. 6~. Ancient Buying Ground, I. SALEMCOURT RECORDSAND FI&, 61,154. Bay View Cemetery, 68. SALEMIN 1700, NO. 18, 37. Old Cemetery at knesville, 106. SALEMIN 1700, NO. 19, 72. Ancient Cemetey, West Gloucester, 152. SALEMIN 1/00, NO. 20, 114. HYMNS,THE OLD,142. SALEMIN 1700, NO.
    [Show full text]
  • Scepticism and Belief in English Witchcraft Drama, 1538–1681
    SCEPTICISM AND BELIEF IN ENGLISH WITCHCRAFT DRAMA, 1538–1681 Scepticism and belief in English witchcraft drama, 1538–1681 ERIC PUDNEY Lund University Press Copyright © Eric Pudney 2019 The right of Eric Pudney to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Lund University Press The Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology P.O. Box 117 SE-221 00 LUND Sweden http://lunduniversitypress.lu.se Lund University Press books are published in collaboration with Manchester University Press. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 9 1983 7686 9 hardback ISBN 978 9 1983 7687 6 open access First published 2019 This electronic version has been made freely available under a Creative Commons (CC-BY-NC-ND) licence, thanks to the support of Lund University, which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction provided the author(s) and Lund University Press are fully cited and no modifications or adaptations are made. Details of the licence can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Lund University Press gratefully acknowledges publication assistance from the Thora Ohlsson Foundation (Thora Ohlssons
    [Show full text]
  • Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706
    Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648−1706 George Lincoln Burr Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648−1706 Table of Contents Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648−1706...............................................................................................1 George Lincoln Burr................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................3 Notes........................................................................................................................................................5 A BRIEF AND TRUE NARRATIVE: titlepage.....................................................................................7 “The Bookseller to the Reader.”..............................................................................................................7 Narrative..................................................................................................................................................7 Notes......................................................................................................................................................11 Remarks of things more than ordinary about the Afflicted Persons......................................................14 Notes......................................................................................................................................................15
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright 2011 Tara Lynn Lyons
    Copyright 2011 Tara Lynn Lyons ENGLISH PRINTED DRAMA IN COLLECTION BEFORE JONSON AND SHAKESPEARE BY TARA LYNN LYONS DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Emerita Professor Carol T. Neely, Chair Associate Professor Zachary L. Lesser, University of Pennsylvania Associate Professor Lori Humphrey Newcomb Professor Curtis Perry Abstract Benjamin Jonson’s Works (1616) and William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies (1623) overwhelmingly dominate studies of the English drama collection. This critical focus has revealed much of what we know about the collection as a format for dramatic texts in early modern England, but it has also concealed aspects of the format’s history. Scholars regularly assume that the Jonson and Shakespeare Folios were the first in England to gather dramatic texts in collections; others often treat the volumes as paradigms for how drama collections looked, functioned, and signified. By examining collections printed or compiled from approximately 1512 to 1623, “English Printed Drama in Collection Before Jonson and Shakespeare” offers a new conceptualization of the collection. This dissertation discovers that drama appeared in multiple collected formats other than large folio volumes and was organized around a diversity of principles of collection other than (and in addition to) “the author.” For example, drama was presented in ten-play quarto editions supporting humanist pedagogical agendas, reader-compiled octavo miscellanies created for political persuasion, and serially published sets celebrating the English church and crown. This diversity of collected forms was constructed through different material processes to support the financial and/or ideological aims of various agents, including printers, publishers, booksellers, editors, and readers.
    [Show full text]
  • Cotton Mathers's Wonders of the Invisible World: an Authoritative Edition
    Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University English Dissertations Department of English 1-12-2005 Cotton Mathers's Wonders of the Invisible World: An Authoritative Edition Paul Melvin Wise Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss Recommended Citation Wise, Paul Melvin, "Cotton Mathers's Wonders of the Invisible World: An Authoritative Edition." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2005. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss/5 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COTTON MATHER’S WONDERS OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD: AN AUTHORITATIVE EDITION by PAUL M. WISE Under the direction of Reiner Smolinski ABSTRACT In Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather applies both his views on witchcraft and his millennial calculations to events at Salem in 1692. Although this infamous treatise served as the official chronicle and apologia of the 1692 witch trials, and excerpts from Wonders of the Invisible World are widely anthologized, no annotated critical edition of the entire work has appeared since the nineteenth century. This present edition seeks to remedy this lacuna in modern scholarship, presenting Mather’s seventeenth-century text next to an integrated theory of the natural causes of the Salem witch panic. The likely causes of Salem’s bewitchment, viewed alongside Mather’s implausible explanations, expose his disingenuousness in writing about Salem. Chapter one of my introduction posits the probability that a group of conspirators, led by the Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Cotton Mather
    3 Cotton Mather (1663–1728) Cotton Mather Cotton Mather Cotton Mather probably was the best-known savagely retells in “Alice Doan ’ s Appeal.” citizen of New England of his day: a popular In Wonders of the Invisible World (1693), minister in Boston, author of some 450 works Mather defends the judges and the outcomes of (including a few in French and Spanish), Fellow the trials at a time when public opinion was of the British Royal Society, a theologian and his- swinging against them. By the time the trials had torian who had training as well in medicine and ended, nineteen men and women, and two dogs, who helped introduce smallpox vaccination to had been executed, and one man pressed to death North America. His Magnalia Christi Americana under stones because he refused to enter a plea. (1702) stood on home bookshelves throughout (According to legend, the last words of this man, New England well into the nineteenth century. Giles Corey, were “more weight.”) As Dorothy Z. Baker has recently demonstrated, Martha Carrier and George Burroughs Mather is a seminal writer in the American Gothic, (whom Mather calls only by his initials) were in that he is a source of material and an object two of the “witches” executed on August 19. The of fascination for a long series of later writers, others were John Willard, George Jacobs, Sr., including Poe, Hawthorne, and even Edith Wharton, and John Proctor, about whom Arthur Miller who often despised him. would write a play, The Crucible , in 1953. Today Cotton Mather ’ s name is most often Before his hanging, Burroughs led the witnesses connected with the Salem witchcraft trials of in reciting the Lord ’ s Prayer, which in popular 1692, events with which he was only marginally belief was impossible for a witch to do.
    [Show full text]