Paratext printed with new English plays, 1660-1700 / Robert D. Hume.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hume, Robert D., author.

Series:

Cambridge elements. Elements in eighteenth-century connections, 2632-5578.

Cambridge elements. Elements in eighteenth-century connections, 2632-5578

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Paratext--Great Britain--History--17th century.

Paratext.

English drama--17th century--History and criticism.

English drama.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (84 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

This Element Paratext printed with new English plays has a lot to tell us about what playwrights were attempting to do and how audiences responded, thereby contributing substantially to our understanding of larger patterns of generic evolution across two centuries. The presence (or absence) of twelve elements needs to be systematically surveyed. (1) Attribution of authorship; (2) generic designation; (3) performance auspices; (4) government license authorizing publication; (5) dedication; (6) prefaces of various sorts; (7a-b-c) list of characters (three types); (8) actors' names (sometimes with descriptive characterizations-very helpful for deducing intended authorial interpretation); (9) location of action; (10) prologue and epilogue for first production. Surveying these results, we can see that much of the generic evolution traceable in the later seventeenth century gets undone during the eighteenth-a reversal largely attributable to the Licensing Act of 1737. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Contents:

Cover

Title page

Copyright page

Paratext Printed with New English Plays, 1660-1700

Contents

A Note from the Series Editors

Introduction

The Twelve Paratextual Elements

Background

Ten Varieties of Paratext and Two Subsets

Observations, Reflections, and Questions

Retrospective

Overview: The Big Picture, 1590-1800

Appendix A: Cumulative Statistics by Decade and in Toto

Appendix B: Twelve Varieties of Paratext in New English Printed Plays, 1660-1700

Bibliography.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 28 Dec 2023).

ISBN:

9781009270472

1009270478

9781009270496

1009270494

9781009270502

1009270508

Access Restriction:

Open Access. Unrestricted online access