Renaissance

1-900755-02-5: Classical Rhetoric and the German Poet: 1620 to the Present — A Study of Opitz, Bürger and Eichendorff
Anna Carrdus

‘The tone is confident, the style lucid. Within a few pages the reader senses how purposeful the exposition is, and how well thought out. But what makes Anna Carrdus’s performance so assured is her obvious commitment to poetry itself... It concludes with a wish that may sound audacious, yet which the undertaking wholly justifies: ‘My findings will, I hope, open up an opportunity for scholarship to revise current perceptions of the history of German poetry.’ She has already revised them herself, single-handed.’ — Peter Skrine, Modern Language Review 94.1, 1999, 243-5
‘Die Analysen sind treffich, und die Er≥rterungen zum literarhistorischen und poetologischen Kontext zeugen von groôer Kennerschaft.’ — Joachim Knape, Germanistik 41.2, 2000, 419

1-900755-05-X: The Epic Rhetoric of Tasso: Theory and Practice
Maggie Günsberg

‘Günsberg examines her material with great accuracy... deals with important aspects of Tasso’s thought and poetical practice in a meticulous way, and can be useful both for readers attached to traditional rhetorical categories and for those with an interest in more recent critical developments.’ — Laura Benedetti, Italian Studies LIV, 1999, 177-8
‘An attractive and interesting volume that provides a useful addition to the comparatively thin recent output of Tasso scholarship in this country.’ — Peter Brand, Modern Language Review 95.3, 2000, 857-8

1-900755-09-2: Women in Italian Renaissance Culture and Society
Edited by Letizia Panizza

‘In her introduction Letizia Panizza writes that one of the aims of the collection is to recover neglected areas of Italian culture and society, which she has done... Many of the essays are quite good; all are informative.’ — Elissa B. Weaver, Renaissance Quarterly 2002, 713-15
‘Offers a vast and well-organized view of the position that early modern women occupied in Italy from 1400 to 1650... I highly recommend the collection.’ — Rinaldini Russell, Forum Italicum 36.1, 2002, 214-15
‘The above is merely a fraction of the content. There is certainly richness in this volume. Many branches of scholarship gain by having these articles in print and they are an eloquent testimony to the vitality of scholarship in this area.’ — Olwen Hufton, Modern Language Review 97.1, 2002
‘This excellent book of essays... retains the liveliness and originality of the conference held at Royal Holloway, University of London, ... with the added bonus that all those given in Italian have been translated, so that — as the editor says — we can benefit from the work of many specialists, some of whose work has not previously been available in English.’ — Alison Brown, Italian Studies LVII, 2002, 171-2
‘Without doubt, the most important volume yet published in English on the specific contribution of women to culture and society in Italy in the Renaissance... The coherence of the volume is assured by a number of overarching themes.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies XXXIX, 2003, 480

1-900755-31-9: The Backward Look: Memory and the Writing Self in France 1580-1920
Angelica Goodden

‘Reads like an essay by Montaigne... an ambitious and thought-provoking study.’ — Michéle Bissiére, French Review 76.3, 2003, 592-3
‘It is salutary to read a thoughtful, level-headed and well-informed account of the representation of the self in French writing... there is no doubting the depth, range and persuasiveness of the thesis advanced.’ — Anthony Strugnell, French Studies LVII.3, 2003, 428-30

1-900755-55-6: Treny: The Laments of Kochanowski
Translated by Adam Czerniawski and with an introduction by Donald Davie
Studies In Comparative Literature 6

Translation Review Vol 8, No 1, 2002, 26
‘This bilingual edition will be enjoyed by the casual reader of Polish poetry and it will be useful to the scholar or student of Polish language and literature.’ — Steven Clancy, The Sarmatian Review January, 2003
‘Semantically closer to the original than Heaney and Baranczak’s version and less awkward than those by Mikos and Keane... For readers accustomed to the contemporary norms of free verse, Czerniawski’s Treny may well be the most palatable English version available. For Anglophone students of Polish poetry in search of a reliable translation aid, Czerniawski’s version may likewise be the most usable.’ — Alyssa Dinega Gillespie, Slavic and East European Journal 47.2, 2004, 305-6

1-900755-69-6: Image and Word: Reflections of Art and Literature
Edited by Antonella Braida and Giuliana Pieri

1-900755-96-3: Teresa of Avila’s Autobiography: Authority, Power and the Self in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Spain
Elena Carrera

‘In sum, Carrera succeeds admirably in her goal of elucidating the textual models and controversies that underlie Teresa’s religious practices and her self-presentation in Vida. She provides expert guidance through the theological maze...’ — Alison Parks Weber, Iberoamericana VI, 24, 2006, 213-15

978-1-904350-84-2: Thinking with Shakespeare: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Essays
Edited by William Poole and Richard Scholar

‘In his witty, deeply learned and humane "Last Word", Nuttall reminds us that the famous principle of economy in explanation, Ockham’s Razor, when applied to Shakespeare’s plays, should be renamed "Ockham’s Beard", which prompts us to ask of any of Shakespeare’s plays, "What else is going on?"... What makes this collection distinctive is that nearly all of these essays focus centrally on genre.’ — Paul Cefalu, Shakespeare Quarterly 59.3, Fall 2008, 345-48
‘Frank Kermode once referred to Nuttall (who died in 2007) as "probably the most philosophically-minded of modern literary critics", and the volume reflects this emphasis... A stimulating collection of pieces, of relevance not just to Shakespeareans but also to anyone with an interest in questions of the nature of literary value.’ — unsigned, Forum for Modern Language Studies 46.1, January 2010, 118-19

1-904713-06-8: Pastoral Drama in Early Modern Italy: The Making of a New Genre
Lisa Sampson
Italian Perspectives 15

‘Handsomely produced (a tribute to its publishers and copy-editor), meticulously researched, agreeably written,with copious notes, a generous bibliography, and English translationsof all the original quotations, it is packed full with fascinating and thought-provoking information.’ — Eric Haywood, Modern Language Review 103.4, October 2008, 1138
‘Vanno complimentati, infine, anche gli editori di Legenda (la fruttuosa collaborazione tra Maney Publishing e la Modern Humanities Research Association) che hanno curato questa pubblicazione impeccabile, e che hanno dato ampio spazio — scelta felice — ai citati originali in italiano (provveduti sempre di una traduzione inglese della stessa studiosa). In aggiunta alle note concise poste alla fine di ogni capitolo, la bibliografia e l’indice generale che concludono il libro costituiranno un utile strumento di consultazione ai molti studenti e ricercatori che troveranno una ricchissima fonte d’informazioni preziose (dalla descrizione meticolosa delle innumerevoli opere individuali, al contesto sociale, culturale e politico sempre ottimamente documentato) in questa monografia, la quale combina una chiarezza di argomentazione con un’analisi sfaccettata di un fenomeno significativo — se non proprio determinante — nel campo culturale della prima epoca moderna.’ — Rolien Scheffer, Italian Studies 64.2, Autumn 2009

978-1-905981-11-3: Biography in Early Modern France 1540-1630: Forms and Functions
Katherine MacDonald
Research Monographs in French Studies 23

‘This useful monograph presents five case studies of Early Modern biographies (including one autobiography)... MacDonald’s work frames these two well-known texts in such a way as to encourage continued investigation of Renaissance biography as a fully-fledged prose genre.’ — Forum for Modern Language Studies April 2009, 226
‘The first perspective [in this book] situates biography as a genre belonging to antique epideictic rhetoric... The second is the narrative of what might be called the facts of biographical life... The third is what could be called a concetto, that is, the biographer’s own life perspective, conscious or unconscious, in the biography he is writing. This is what really interests Katherine MacDonald, because of her own radical-individualist perspective on relations between the biographer and his subject.’ — Orest Ranum, Renaissance Quarterly 62, 2009, 229-31
‘Elegantly written, clearly argued, and erudite, this is a rewarding and thought-provoking book and a valuable contribution to the study of early modern French humanism.’ — Joan Davies, Modern Language Review 105.1, January 2010, 241-42
‘Interesting and original interpretations of biographies in which reading between the lines was every bit as important as the lines themselves.’ — John Lewis, French Studies 64.2, April 2010
‘An interesting and thought-provoking study which is well worth reading, albeit with a grain of salt.’ — Sarah Nelson, Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly 32.4, Fall 2009, 840-42

978-1-905981-92-2: Cosmos and Image in the Renaissance: French Love Lyric and Natural-Philosophical Poetry
Kathryn Banks

‘A powerful interpretation of the relationship of cosmic and linguistic images... a thoughtful and thought-provoking analysis into sixteenth-century poetry and intellectual history.’ — Michael Randall, Renaissance Quarterly 62, 2009, 1237-38
‘Dans cet ouvrage savant, où l’érudition ne nuit jamais à la clarté de l’exposé, l’auteur choisit de réexaminer ce que Lucien Febvre appelait "l’outillage mental" du seizième siècle mais en s’attachant moins à la circulation des idées ... qu’à leur expression linguistique et au jeu auquel les soumet le poète ... Du point de vue méthodologique de nombreuses précautions sont prises, à la fois dans l’introduction et dans le corps de l’analyse ... une stratégie d’exposition qui, loin de ramener le différent au même, entend refuser l’emprise de tout schéma téléologique.’ — Francois Rigolot, The French Review 83.4, March 2010, 859
‘This is a scholarly and rewarding study based pleasingly on close readings of an interesting combination of texts [...] a detailed and authoritative account of images which goes beyond the purely linguistic, situating its material both within a developing tradition in the history of ideas and against a backdrop of contemporary political, philosophical and theological debates. As such, with its broad and thoroughly researched range of references to writers in different disciplines and genres, it is of as much interest to the general reader as it is to specialists of Scève or Du Bartas.’ — Emma Herdman, Renaissance Studies 24.3, June 2010, 451-52
‘Exemplarily lucid explorations of a number of difficult problems in sixteenth-century poetic theory and practice.’ — James Helgeson, French Studies 65.2, April 2011, 239-40
‘A rich, persuasive account of some extraordinary poetry and a fascinating period of intellectual and literary history.’ — 'MHG', St Catharine's Magazine 2009, p. 85

978-1-906540-49-4: Boccaccio and the Book: Production and Reading in Italy 1340-1520
Rhiannon Daniels
Italian Perspectives 19

‘This descriptive study provides many details that will benefit any scholar interested in the reception of Boccaccio’s works before the transformations they undergo in the later Cinquecento.’ — Martin Eisner, Renaissance Quarterly 63.2, 2010, 545-46
‘Original and highly detailed... Chapter 1 could usefully be recommended to students of the history of the book in Italy for the clarity with which it presents all of the aspects that need to be considered in a discussion of readership, reception, production, and paratext, in both manuscripts and printed books... A signiﬁcant contribution to the history of the book in Italy.’ — Jane Everson, Modern Language Review 106.2, April 2011, 564-66
‘This book is a valuable and stimulating contribution to the reception history of Boccaccio. Particularly interesting is the way that Daniels looks at manuscripts and printed editions that have not been given their due, and the reader will constantly come across intriguing details.’ — K. P. Clarke, Medium Aevum 74, 2010

978-1-907975-29-5: Renaissance Keywords
Edited by Ita Mac Carthy


		News Titles Just Out Just Announced Reviews Just In Mailing List Information About Us Series Editors Proposals Review Copies Catalogue New Titles Forthcoming All Titles Subjects Authors Languages Central Europe English French German Modern Greek Italian Portuguese Russian Spanish Yiddish Genres Art Children’s Criticism Drama Fiction Film History Letters Life-Writing Linguistics Music Philosophy Poetry Satire Theology Travel Writing Translation Periods Classics Medieval Renaissance 1650-1850 Modern Contemporary		In order of: Series Title Author ISBN Subject Date (oldest first) Date (newest first) Show these titles as: a list a table a list with reviews (published titles only) 1-900755-02-5: Classical Rhetoric and the German Poet: 1620 to the Present — A Study of Opitz, Bürger and Eichendorff Anna Carrdus ‘The tone is confident, the style lucid. Within a few pages the reader senses how purposeful the exposition is, and how well thought out. But what makes Anna Carrdus’s performance so assured is her obvious commitment to poetry itself... It concludes with a wish that may sound audacious, yet which the undertaking wholly justifies: ‘My findings will, I hope, open up an opportunity for scholarship to revise current perceptions of the history of German poetry.’ She has already revised them herself, single-handed.’ — Peter Skrine, Modern Language Review 94.1, 1999, 243-5 ‘Die Analysen sind treffich, und die Er≥rterungen zum literarhistorischen und poetologischen Kontext zeugen von groôer Kennerschaft.’ — Joachim Knape, Germanistik 41.2, 2000, 419 1-900755-05-X: The Epic Rhetoric of Tasso: Theory and Practice Maggie Günsberg ‘Günsberg examines her material with great accuracy... deals with important aspects of Tasso’s thought and poetical practice in a meticulous way, and can be useful both for readers attached to traditional rhetorical categories and for those with an interest in more recent critical developments.’ — Laura Benedetti, Italian Studies LIV, 1999, 177-8 ‘An attractive and interesting volume that provides a useful addition to the comparatively thin recent output of Tasso scholarship in this country.’ — Peter Brand, Modern Language Review 95.3, 2000, 857-8 1-900755-09-2: Women in Italian Renaissance Culture and Society Edited by Letizia Panizza ‘In her introduction Letizia Panizza writes that one of the aims of the collection is to recover neglected areas of Italian culture and society, which she has done... Many of the essays are quite good; all are informative.’ — Elissa B. Weaver, Renaissance Quarterly 2002, 713-15 ‘Offers a vast and well-organized view of the position that early modern women occupied in Italy from 1400 to 1650... I highly recommend the collection.’ — Rinaldini Russell, Forum Italicum 36.1, 2002, 214-15 ‘The above is merely a fraction of the content. There is certainly richness in this volume. Many branches of scholarship gain by having these articles in print and they are an eloquent testimony to the vitality of scholarship in this area.’ — Olwen Hufton, Modern Language Review 97.1, 2002 ‘This excellent book of essays... retains the liveliness and originality of the conference held at Royal Holloway, University of London, ... with the added bonus that all those given in Italian have been translated, so that — as the editor says — we can benefit from the work of many specialists, some of whose work has not previously been available in English.’ — Alison Brown, Italian Studies LVII, 2002, 171-2 ‘Without doubt, the most important volume yet published in English on the specific contribution of women to culture and society in Italy in the Renaissance... The coherence of the volume is assured by a number of overarching themes.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies XXXIX, 2003, 480 1-900755-31-9: The Backward Look: Memory and the Writing Self in France 1580-1920 Angelica Goodden ‘Reads like an essay by Montaigne... an ambitious and thought-provoking study.’ — Michéle Bissiére, French Review 76.3, 2003, 592-3 ‘It is salutary to read a thoughtful, level-headed and well-informed account of the representation of the self in French writing... there is no doubting the depth, range and persuasiveness of the thesis advanced.’ — Anthony Strugnell, French Studies LVII.3, 2003, 428-30 1-900755-55-6: Treny: The Laments of Kochanowski Translated by Adam Czerniawski and with an introduction by Donald Davie Studies In Comparative Literature 6 Translation Review Vol 8, No 1, 2002, 26 ‘This bilingual edition will be enjoyed by the casual reader of Polish poetry and it will be useful to the scholar or student of Polish language and literature.’ — Steven Clancy, The Sarmatian Review January, 2003 ‘Semantically closer to the original than Heaney and Baranczak’s version and less awkward than those by Mikos and Keane... For readers accustomed to the contemporary norms of free verse, Czerniawski’s Treny may well be the most palatable English version available. For Anglophone students of Polish poetry in search of a reliable translation aid, Czerniawski’s version may likewise be the most usable.’ — Alyssa Dinega Gillespie, Slavic and East European Journal 47.2, 2004, 305-6 1-900755-69-6: Image and Word: Reflections of Art and Literature Edited by Antonella Braida and Giuliana Pieri 1-900755-96-3: Teresa of Avila’s Autobiography: Authority, Power and the Self in Mid-Sixteenth-Century Spain Elena Carrera ‘In sum, Carrera succeeds admirably in her goal of elucidating the textual models and controversies that underlie Teresa’s religious practices and her self-presentation in Vida. She provides expert guidance through the theological maze...’ — Alison Parks Weber, Iberoamericana VI, 24, 2006, 213-15 978-1-904350-84-2: Thinking with Shakespeare: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Essays Edited by William Poole and Richard Scholar ‘In his witty, deeply learned and humane "Last Word", Nuttall reminds us that the famous principle of economy in explanation, Ockham’s Razor, when applied to Shakespeare’s plays, should be renamed "Ockham’s Beard", which prompts us to ask of any of Shakespeare’s plays, "What else is going on?"... What makes this collection distinctive is that nearly all of these essays focus centrally on genre.’ — Paul Cefalu, Shakespeare Quarterly 59.3, Fall 2008, 345-48 ‘Frank Kermode once referred to Nuttall (who died in 2007) as "probably the most philosophically-minded of modern literary critics", and the volume reflects this emphasis... A stimulating collection of pieces, of relevance not just to Shakespeareans but also to anyone with an interest in questions of the nature of literary value.’ — unsigned, Forum for Modern Language Studies 46.1, January 2010, 118-19 1-904713-06-8: Pastoral Drama in Early Modern Italy: The Making of a New Genre Lisa Sampson Italian Perspectives 15 ‘Handsomely produced (a tribute to its publishers and copy-editor), meticulously researched, agreeably written,with copious notes, a generous bibliography, and English translationsof all the original quotations, it is packed full with fascinating and thought-provoking information.’ — Eric Haywood, Modern Language Review 103.4, October 2008, 1138 ‘Vanno complimentati, infine, anche gli editori di Legenda (la fruttuosa collaborazione tra Maney Publishing e la Modern Humanities Research Association) che hanno curato questa pubblicazione impeccabile, e che hanno dato ampio spazio — scelta felice — ai citati originali in italiano (provveduti sempre di una traduzione inglese della stessa studiosa). In aggiunta alle note concise poste alla fine di ogni capitolo, la bibliografia e l’indice generale che concludono il libro costituiranno un utile strumento di consultazione ai molti studenti e ricercatori che troveranno una ricchissima fonte d’informazioni preziose (dalla descrizione meticolosa delle innumerevoli opere individuali, al contesto sociale, culturale e politico sempre ottimamente documentato) in questa monografia, la quale combina una chiarezza di argomentazione con un’analisi sfaccettata di un fenomeno significativo — se non proprio determinante — nel campo culturale della prima epoca moderna.’ — Rolien Scheffer, Italian Studies 64.2, Autumn 2009 978-1-905981-11-3: Biography in Early Modern France 1540-1630: Forms and Functions Katherine MacDonald Research Monographs in French Studies 23 ‘This useful monograph presents five case studies of Early Modern biographies (including one autobiography)... MacDonald’s work frames these two well-known texts in such a way as to encourage continued investigation of Renaissance biography as a fully-fledged prose genre.’ — Forum for Modern Language Studies April 2009, 226 ‘The first perspective [in this book] situates biography as a genre belonging to antique epideictic rhetoric... The second is the narrative of what might be called the facts of biographical life... The third is what could be called a concetto, that is, the biographer’s own life perspective, conscious or unconscious, in the biography he is writing. This is what really interests Katherine MacDonald, because of her own radical-individualist perspective on relations between the biographer and his subject.’ — Orest Ranum, Renaissance Quarterly 62, 2009, 229-31 ‘Elegantly written, clearly argued, and erudite, this is a rewarding and thought-provoking book and a valuable contribution to the study of early modern French humanism.’ — Joan Davies, Modern Language Review 105.1, January 2010, 241-42 ‘Interesting and original interpretations of biographies in which reading between the lines was every bit as important as the lines themselves.’ — John Lewis, French Studies 64.2, April 2010 ‘An interesting and thought-provoking study which is well worth reading, albeit with a grain of salt.’ — Sarah Nelson, Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly 32.4, Fall 2009, 840-42 978-1-905981-92-2: Cosmos and Image in the Renaissance: French Love Lyric and Natural-Philosophical Poetry Kathryn Banks ‘A powerful interpretation of the relationship of cosmic and linguistic images... a thoughtful and thought-provoking analysis into sixteenth-century poetry and intellectual history.’ — Michael Randall, Renaissance Quarterly 62, 2009, 1237-38 ‘Dans cet ouvrage savant, où l’érudition ne nuit jamais à la clarté de l’exposé, l’auteur choisit de réexaminer ce que Lucien Febvre appelait "l’outillage mental" du seizième siècle mais en s’attachant moins à la circulation des idées ... qu’à leur expression linguistique et au jeu auquel les soumet le poète ... Du point de vue méthodologique de nombreuses précautions sont prises, à la fois dans l’introduction et dans le corps de l’analyse ... une stratégie d’exposition qui, loin de ramener le différent au même, entend refuser l’emprise de tout schéma téléologique.’ — Francois Rigolot, The French Review 83.4, March 2010, 859 ‘This is a scholarly and rewarding study based pleasingly on close readings of an interesting combination of texts [...] a detailed and authoritative account of images which goes beyond the purely linguistic, situating its material both within a developing tradition in the history of ideas and against a backdrop of contemporary political, philosophical and theological debates. As such, with its broad and thoroughly researched range of references to writers in different disciplines and genres, it is of as much interest to the general reader as it is to specialists of Scève or Du Bartas.’ — Emma Herdman, Renaissance Studies 24.3, June 2010, 451-52 ‘Exemplarily lucid explorations of a number of difficult problems in sixteenth-century poetic theory and practice.’ — James Helgeson, French Studies 65.2, April 2011, 239-40 ‘A rich, persuasive account of some extraordinary poetry and a fascinating period of intellectual and literary history.’ — 'MHG', St Catharine's Magazine 2009, p. 85 978-1-906540-49-4: Boccaccio and the Book: Production and Reading in Italy 1340-1520 Rhiannon Daniels Italian Perspectives 19 ‘This descriptive study provides many details that will benefit any scholar interested in the reception of Boccaccio’s works before the transformations they undergo in the later Cinquecento.’ — Martin Eisner, Renaissance Quarterly 63.2, 2010, 545-46 ‘Original and highly detailed... Chapter 1 could usefully be recommended to students of the history of the book in Italy for the clarity with which it presents all of the aspects that need to be considered in a discussion of readership, reception, production, and paratext, in both manuscripts and printed books... A signiﬁcant contribution to the history of the book in Italy.’ — Jane Everson, Modern Language Review 106.2, April 2011, 564-66 ‘This book is a valuable and stimulating contribution to the reception history of Boccaccio. Particularly interesting is the way that Daniels looks at manuscripts and printed editions that have not been given their due, and the reader will constantly come across intriguing details.’ — K. P. Clarke, Medium Aevum 74, 2010 978-1-907975-29-5: Renaissance Keywords Edited by Ita Mac Carthy