Rickard, J (2022) Jonson’s imaginary library: “An Execration upon Vulcan” and its intertexts. Huntington Library Quarterly, 85 (3). pp. 447-470. ISSN 0018-7895
Abstract
Ben Jonson's 1623 poem "An Execration upon Vulcan" responds to a fire in his house, which seemingly destroyed some books and papers. Scholarly interest in this work has largely been confined to what biographical information it reveals. Yet this poem is in dialogue with Cervantes's Don Quixote, Rabelais's Pantagruel, and Donne's The Courtier's Library, and it engages with the genre of the mock library catalogue. By bringing together these works, the essay not only contributes to ongoing study of such Jonsonian concerns as censorship, interpretation, and the value of learning but also highlights his interest in contemporary European comic literature and the closeness of his association with Donne. It sheds light on early modern literature's self-consciousness about the library as a malleable concept, a self-consciousness with important methodological implications for critics and historians of the period.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | ©Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Reproduced in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of English (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 12 Apr 2022 11:46 |
Last Modified: | 25 Oct 2023 14:41 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | University of Pennsylvania Press (Penn Press) |
Identification Number: | 10.1353/hlq.2022.a903738 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:185609 |