Department of English

This course will focus upon the making, remaking, dissemination, and reading of books in early modern England and America. We will move back and forth between general theoretical and historical considerations and detailed examinations of textual problems. The class will be held in the rare book rooms at Penn, the Library Company, the Free Library, the Rosenbach Museum and Library, and the Folger Shakespeare Library.

READINGS: The books for the course are: The Holy Bible (King James version); Shakespeare, Hamlet (Arden edition); The New-England Primer; Samuel Richardson, Pamela.

I'd also recommend F. Preston and Laetitia Yeandle, English Handwriting 1400-1650.

Fulfills 1, 4, & 5 requirements.