Abstract/Summary

This book is a study of the printed poetry anthologies published in the second half of the sixteenth century in England, from Songes and Sonettes (1557) to A Poetical Rapsodie (1602), and focuses, in particular, on understanding how the work of publishers and compilers contributed to this cultural phenomenon. By attending to the markets and readerships created by these anthologies, it revises conventional models of the Renaissance that focus on the fashioning of gentleman authors and readers. Showing how these anthologies helped to shape recreational cultures within the nation’s households, drawing men and women together from across the social classes, it argues for a domestic Renaissance.