ENG2509H: Shakespeare and the Book

This course will explore the wide range of ways that Shakespeare and early modern literature intersect with the field broadly known as book history. Since the emergence of the New Bibliography in the early twentieth century, scholarly work on the changing forms of Shakespearean texts, from the early printed quartos to the digital editions of today, has become increasingly shaped by an awareness of the political, economic, social, and aesthetic factors that influence the production, dissemination, reception, and remediation of literary works as material objects, most recently informed by a growing attention to race, gender, and sexuality. Working with both theoretical and historical scholarship, this course will introduce students to a variety of methods for studying the book (broadly conceived) with attention to the new research directions in early modern literature that these methods support. Topics addressed may include the idea of the book in drama, manuscript culture, early modern printing technologies, book design, the economics and politics of publication, reading and book use, theories of editing, authorship and canon formation, global receptions of Shakespeare on the page, archives and libraries, and digital remediations.

0.50
St. George