Introduction: ‘Baldewins Straunge Faschions’

This introduction gives a brief overview of William Baldwin’s life and work, locating him in the context of mid-Tudor London and particularly describing the effects of religious upheaval on the publishing world in which he was immersed. We situate his novel, Beware the Cat (c. 1552), in the history of prose fiction in English before describing the theatrical adaptation of the text that generated the research behind this special edition. Finally, we consider the practice-based methodology that informs the project as a whole, before summarising the contributions that follow.