In Defiance of Time: Antiquarian Writing in Early Modern England - Hardcover

Vine, Angus

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199566194 ISBN 13: 9780199566198

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2010

Synopsis

In Defiance of Time explores the emergence of antiquarianism in early modern England, from its first flourishing in the mid-Tudor period through to its seventeenth-century heyday. A vibrant antiquarian culture emerged, which reached beyond scholarly and historical circles, and had a profound influence on the literature and thought of the period. Examining the influences on that development of that culture, this book argues that the origins of English antiquarianism need to be found in the methods and practices of continental (and especially Italian) humanism. It shows that, like the humanists, the early antiquaries had the essentially imaginative aim of resurrecting and recomposing the past and past societies 'in defiance of time'. The antiquaries conceived of themselves and their activities as bridging the gap between past and present, affording 'olden time' presence in this way so that it might speak to and inform present circumstances. At the heart of this book is the argument that the antiquarian project depended on the antiquaries' capacity to restore-in their imagination at least-the fragments of the past, to imagine those remnants of history 'which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time' made whole once again. In Defiance of Time traces these arguments through a range of authors and material, both printed and in manuscript. Chapters advance original readings of important authors such as Leland, Stow, Spenser, Camden, Drayton, and Selden, as well as shedding light on institutions such as the Elizabethan Society of Antiquaries and reviewing the wide range of activities, interests, and concerns that came under the antiquarian purview. Antiquarianism is thereby shown to be integral to early modern literary and intellectual culture.

About this title

About the Author

Angus Vine is Senior Research Associate in the Faculty of English at the University of Cambridge. He completed his PhD at Trinity College, Cambridge, and he works on the literature and intellectual history of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, with related research interests in the history of science, the history of the book and manuscript culture. With Dr Richard Serjeantson (University of Cambridge) he is editing The Oxford Francis Bacon, Volume III: Earlier Jacobean Writings, 1603-1613.

Review

"His careful research and diligent scholarship reconstruct the social relationships and correspondences between the antiquaries themselves, and for this reason will become required reading for scholars of this subject. The notes in particular are well done, and the Oxford University Press is to be thanked for printing them at the bottom of the page for ease of reference." --Sixteenth Century Journal

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0199566194
• ISBN 13: 9780199566198
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 260