Bess of Hardwick's letters : language, materiality, and early modern epistolary culture / Alison Wiggins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wiggins, Alison, 1974- author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Series:

Material readings in early modern culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Shrewsbury, Elizabeth Hardwick Talbot, Countess of, 1527?-1608--Correspondence.

Shrewsbury, Elizabeth Hardwick Talbot.

Shrewsbury, Elizabeth Hardwick Talbot, Countess of, 1527?-1608.

English letters--History and criticism.

English letters.

Letter writing--England--History--16th century.

Letter writing.

Women and literature--England--History--16th century.

Women and literature.

History.

England.

England--Social life and customs--16th century.

Manners and customs.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Records and correspondence.

Correspondence.

Personal correspondence.

Physical Description:

xv, 223 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2017.

Contents:

1 Composing and scripting letters 27

1.1 'Sett downe the matter plainly': situating epistolary composition within the genre of early modern letter-writing 27

1.2 'As yf she were my owne and only chyld': a letter of petition to Sir Francis Walsingham written on behalf of her granddaughter Arbella Stuart, 1582 62

1.3 'I am the furst innosent wyffe, that euar was so very extremly used, in thys realme, god make me the last': a letter to her estranged husband the earl of Shrewsbury written during their marital discord, 1585 68

1.4 'My good sweete daughter ... blesse you deare harte': a letter to her daughter Mary, countess of Shrewsbury, 1607 80

2 Reading and writing letters 89

2.1 'A little deske to write on guilded': situating epistolary production within textual cultures at Hardwick Hall, c. 1601 89

2.2 'Your honour's hand': autograph writing and Bess of Hardwick's idiolect 106

2.3 'I am not able nowe to write ... with my owne hande': scribal writing and idiolects 120

2.4 Letters from 'the palace of the sky': Bess of Hardwick's signature 137

3 Sending and receiving letters 142

3.1 'Geven to one that brought a letter': situating epistolary reception within early modern postal and delivery networks 142

3.2 'Delyver therwith into him, so great thankes & good wordes as yow can devyse': letters with bearers 161

3.3 'A note that came with the stuff': letters with enclosures 173

3.4 'Hauinge no betar menes to manifast mi thanckefolnes': letters with floss and accordion folds 186.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781409461296

1409461297

OCLC:

958141132