Second only to the Bible, John Foxe's Acts and Monuments, known as the Book of Martyrs, was the most influential book published in England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The most complex and best illustrated English book of its time, it recounted in detail the experiences of hundreds of people who were burnt alive for their religious beliefs. John N. King offers the most comprehensive investigation yet of the compilation, printing, publication, illustration, and reception of the Book of Martyrs. He charts its reception across different editions by learned and unlearned, sympathetic and antagonistic readers. The many illustrations included here, most of which are reproduced for the first time, introduce readers to the visual features of early printed books and general printing practices both in England and continental Europe, and enhance this important contribution to early modern literary studies, cultural and religious history, and the history of the book.
• Includes 51 illustrations, revealing important visual features of the production of the Book of Martyrs • Sets the publication history of Foxe in the wider context of early modern print culture • Follows the life-cycle of this important work from compilation to reception
Contents
Introduction; 1. The compilation of the book; 2. The Book of Martyrs in the printing house; 3. Viewing the pictures; 4. Reading the pages; Appendix. Glossary of technical terms; Select bibliography; Index.
Reviews
'… John King's contribution to our knowledge of one of the most significant books of the age is itself a book of major significance, and will be recognised as such by Elizabethan scholars and historians of the early modern book.' Literature & History
'This book is most of all a telling demonstration of what can be learned from a study of early modern books as artefacts, when the author, as here, has a clear understanding of contemporary printing practice, and where a keen eye is applied to investigating subtle indications of ownership and use.' The Review of English Studies
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