Elizabeth I and the Culture of Writing
Elizabeth I (1533?1603) lived immersed in a culture of writing. She herself wrote poems, prayers, devotions, and speeches, as well as innumerable letters and state documents. She was the recipient, and reader, of many books and manuscripts. Entertainments were presented before her; she was the subject of countless eulogistic poems and dedications, and her courtiers included notable poets and prose writers.
Following the recent, widely commemorated 400th anniversary of Elizabeth?s death, the distinguished contributors to the present volume believe that it is time to pursue aspects of the culture of writing which formed so essential a part of her life and reign. The essays here shed light on the roles she played in this culture ? as sovereign and ultimate arbiter, spectator and protagonist, friend and confidante, creator and recipient, muse and literary icon, as well as woman. They also bring to light newly discovered or little-known documents relating to Elizabeth, which remind us of the wealth of archival evidence that survives in this ?golden? period of English culture.
Contributors: H.R. Woodhuysen, Katherine Duncan-Jones, Grace Ioppolo, Blair Worden, Gabriel Henton, Joshua Eckhardt, Jane Lawson, Peter Beal, Steven W. May.
Table of Contents
Preface
The Queen?s Own Hand: A Preliminary Account
H.R. WOUDHUYSEN
Elizabeth I and her ?Good George?: Unpublished Letters
KATHERINE DUNCAN-JONES
?Your Majesties most humble faythfullest and most affectionate seruant?: The Earl of Essex constructs himself and his Queen in the Hulton Letters
GRACE IOPPOLO
Delightful Teaching: Queen Elizabeth and Sidney?s Arcadia
BLAIR WORDEN
The Queen and the Hermit: the ?Tale of Hemetes? (1575)
GABRIEL HEATON
?From a seruant of Diana? to the Libellers of Robert Cecil: The Transmission of Songs written for Queen Elizabeth I
JOSHUA ECKHARDT
This Remembrance of the New Year: Books Given to Queen Elizabeth as New Year?s Gifts
JANE LAWSON
Elizabeth?s Execution Warrants
PETER BEAL
Queen Elizabeth Prays for the Living and the Dead
STEVEN W. MAY
Notes on Contributors
General Index
