The Anatomy of Melancholy, first published in 1621, is one of the greatest works of early modern English prose writing, yet it has received little substantial literary criticism in recent years. This ...study situates Robert Burton's complex work within three related contexts: religious, medical and literary/rhetorical. Analysing Burton's claim that his text should have curative effects on his melancholic readership, it examines the authorial construction of the reading process in the context of other early modern writing, both canonical and non-canonical, providing a new approach towards the emerging field of the history of reading. Lund responds to Burton's assertion that melancholy is an affliction of body and soul which requires both a spiritual and a corporal cure, exploring the theological complexion of Burton's writing in relation to English religious discourse of the early seventeenth century, and the status of his work as a medical text.
Mistress & Maid, one of the greatest tragedies of Chinese drama, is here available for the first time in English. Acclaimed translator Cyril Birch presents the bittersweet tale of Bella, daughter of ...the Wang family, her maid Petal, and the young scholar Shen Chun. After her father reneges on her marital pact, Bella refuses to renounce her love for Shen, with whom she has vowed to share "in life one room, in death one tomb." The subversion of both conventional morality and the arranged marriage through vivid drama and witty comic scenes makes this seventeenth-century play particularly innovative. Chinese critics have hailed it as essentially revolutionary for its depiction of youthful resistance to latter-day Confucian values, but as Birch notes in the introduction, "the glory of Mistress & Maid is the tender delicacy of the lovers' interactions." This depth of feeling also distinguishes the play from others of the "talent-meets-beauty" genre so prevalent during the late-imperial age.
One of our most acclaimed translators of Chinese drama and a specialist of Ming period literature translates one of the greatest Chinese tragedies of the first half of the seventeenth century, ...available for the first time in English.
In 1690, a dramatic account of piracy was published in Mexico City.The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírezdescribed the incredible adventures of a poor Spanish American carpenter who was taken captive by ...British pirates near the Philippines and forced to work for them for two years. After circumnavigating the world, he was freed and managed to return to Mexico, where the Spanish viceroy commissioned the well-known Mexican scholar Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora to write down Ramírez's account as part of an imperial propaganda campaign against pirates.
The Misfortunes of Alonso Ramírezhas long been regarded as a work of fiction-in fact, as Latin America's first novel-but Fabio López Lázaro makes a convincing case that the book is a historical account of real events, albeit full of distortions and lies. Using contemporary published accounts, as well as newly discovered documents from Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, and Dutch archives, he proves that Ramírez voyaged with one of the most famous pirates of all time, William Dampier. López Lázaro's critical translation ofThe Misfortunesprovides the only extensive Spanish eyewitness account of pirates during the period in world history (1650-1750) when they became key agents of the European powers jockeying for international political and economic dominance. An extensive introduction placesThe Misfortuneswithin the worldwide struggle that Spain, England, and Holland waged against the ambitious Louis XIV of France, which some historians consider to be the first world war.
In 1604, 20-year-old Anne Gunter was bewitched: she foamed at the mouth, contorted wildly in her bedchamber, went into trances. Her garters and bodices were perpetually unlacing themselves. Her ...signature symptom was to vomit pins and "she voided some pins downwards as well by her water or otherwise.." Popular history at its best, "The Bewitching of Anne Gunter" opens a fascinating window onto the past. It's a tale of controlling fathers, willful daughters, nosy neighbors, power relations between peasants and gentry, and village life in early-modern Europe. Above all it's an original and revealing story of one young woman's experience with the greatly misunderstood phenomenon of witchcraft. James Sharpe is Professor of History at York University and the author of "Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in" "Early Modern History" and other works of social history.
The papers in this volume deal with central aspects of Simon Dach's complete poetic works. One focus is on intensive textual interpretations, which take up topical research issues and apply their ...methodology to selected texts by Dach. In the process, particular attention is paid to Dach's Modern Latin poetry, which has hitherto been neglected by research. This volume opens up many texts for research for the first time. Dach's pro-loco disputation, the invitation to his inaugural lecture and numerous poems in German and Latin are edited with commentaries. A second focus is on aspects of the history of the aftermath and reception of his works. This volume provides the most comprehensive academic study of Simon Dach yet published, and is the first to give an overall impression of his poetic works and his influence on later writers.
Mistress & Maid,one of the greatest tragedies of Chinese drama, is here available for the first time in English. Acclaimed translator Cyril Birch presents the bittersweet tale of Bella, daughter of ...the Wang family, her maid Petal, and the young scholar Shen Chun. After her father reneges on her marital pact, Bella refuses to renounce her love for Shen, with whom she has vowed to share "in life one room, in death one tomb." The subversion of both conventional morality and the arranged marriage through vivid drama and witty comic scenes makes this seventeenth-century play particularly innovative. Chinese critics have hailed it as essentially revolutionary for its depiction of youthful resistance to latter-day Confucian values, but as Birch notes in the introduction, "the glory ofMistress & Maidis the tender delicacy of the lovers' interactions." This depth of feeling also distinguishes the play from others of the "talent-meets-beauty" genre so prevalent during the late-imperial age.
Die Aufsätze des Bandes behandeln zentrale Aspekte des poetischen Gesamtwerks von Simon Dach. Ein Schwerpunkt liegt auf intensiven Textinterpretationen, die aktuelle Forschungsfragen aufgreifen und ...methodisch an ausgewählten Texten Dachs exerzieren. Dabei gerät auch ganz besonders die neulateinische Dichtung Dachs in den Blick, die bislang von der Forschung vernachlässigt wurde. Viele Texte werden durch diesen Band erstmals der Forschung zugeführt. Dachs pro- loco-Disputation, seine Einladung zur Antrittsvorlesung sowie zahlreiche neulateinische und deutschsprachige Gedichte sind ediert und kommentiert. Ein zweiter Schwerpunkt liegt auf Aspekten der Wirkungs- und Rezeptionsgeschichte. Mit diesem Band liegt die bislang umfangreichste wissenschaftliche Publikation zu Simon Dach vor, die erstmals einen Gesamteindruck seines poetischen Schaffens und seines Nachwirkens vermittelt.
