Manchester University Press English Literary Afterlives: Greene, Sidney, Donne and the Evolution of Posthumous Fame (The Manchester Spenser)

English literary afterlives illustrates the Renaissance treatment of the posthumous literary life. It argues for the emergence of biographical reading practices during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as early readers attempted to link the literary output of dead authors to their personal lives. Early modern authors complex attitudes to print, and their attempts to fashion their own careers through their writings have been well documented. This study, by contrast, explores how authors and their literary reputations were fashioned after their deaths (and sometimes appropriated) by early modern readers, publishers and printers. It examines the use of biographical prefaces in early modern editions, the fictional presentation of historical poets, pseudo-biography, as well as more conventional modes such as elegy and the exemplary life. By analysing responses to a series of major literary figures after their deaths Geoffrey Chaucer, Philip Sidney, Robert Greene, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, and George Herbert English literary afterlives charts the pre-history of literary biography in the period and presents a counter-narrative to established ideas of authorial emergence through self-fashioning. The book will appeal to scholars and students of the individual authors covered, as well as readers interested in book history, reception history, authorship and life-writing. From the Inside Flap English literary afterlives illustrates the Renaissance treatment of the posthumous literary life. It argues for the emergence of biographical reading practices during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as early readers attempted to link the literary output of dead authors to their personal lives. Early modern authors complex attitudes to print, and their attempts to fashion their own careers through their writings have been well documented. This study, by contrast, explores how authors and their literary reputations were fashioned after their deaths (and sometimes appropriated) by early modern readers, publishers and printers. It examines the use of biographical prefaces in early modern editions, the fictional presentation of historical poets, pseudo-biography, as well as more conventional modes such as elegy and the exemplary life. By analysing responses to a series of major literary figures after their deaths Geoffrey Chaucer, Philip Sidney, Robert Greene, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, and George Herbert English literary afterlives charts the pre-history of literary biography in the period and presents a counter-narrative to established ideas of authorial emergence through self-fashioning. The book will appeal to scholars and students of the individual authors covered, as well as readers interested in book history, reception history, authorship and life-writing. From the Back Cover English literary afterlives illustrates the Renaissance treatment of the posthumous literary life. It argues for the emergence of biographical reading practices during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as early readers attempted to link the literary output of dead authors to their personal lives. Early modern authors' complex attitudes to print, and their attempts to 'fashion' their own careers through their writings have been well documented. This study, by contrast, explores how authors and their literary reputations were fashioned after their deaths (and sometimes appropriated) by early modern readers, publishers and printers. It examines the use of biographical prefaces in early modern editions, the fictional presentation of historical poets, pseudo-biography, as well as more conventional modes such as elegy and the exemplary life. By analysing responses to a series of major literary figures after their deaths - Geoffrey Chaucer, Philip Sidney, Robert Greene, Edmund Spenser, John Donne, and George Herbert - English literary afterlives charts the pre-history of literary biography in the period a