Doubtful readers : print, poetry, and the reading public in early modern England / Erin A. McCarthy.

First edition.

9780191873713 (electronic book)

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2020.

English

1 online resource : illustrations.

PR531

821.309

When poetry was printed, poets and their publishers could no longer take for granted that readers would have the necessary knowledge and skill to read it well. By making poems available to anyone who either had the means to a buy a book or knew someone who did, print publication radically expanded the early modern reading public. These new readers, publishers feared, might not buy or like the books. Worse, their misreadings could put the authors, the publishers, or the readers themselves at risk. This text focuses on early modern publishers' efforts to identify and accommodate new readers of verse that had previously been restricted to particular social networks in manuscript.

When poetry was printed, poets and their publishers could no longer take for granted that readers would have the necessary knowledge and skill to read it well. By making poems available to anyone who either had the means to a buy a book or knew someone who did, print publication radically expanded the early modern reading public. These new readers, publishers feared, might not buy or like the books. Worse, their misreadings could put the authors, the publishers, or the readers themselves at risk. This text focuses on early modern publishers' efforts to identify and accommodate new readers of verse that had previously been restricted to particular social networks in manuscript.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Access limited to authorized users.

Specialized.

Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on February 18, 2020).

Oxford scholarship online.

Print version: 9780198836476

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