English Prose of the Seventeenth Century 1590-1700

This is the first book-length history of the range of seventeenth-century English prose writing. Roger Pooley's study begins with narrative, ranging from the fiction of Bunyan and Aphra Behn to the biographical and autobiographical work of Aubrey and Pepys. Further sections consider religious prose from the hugely influential Authorised Version to Donne's sermons, the political writing of figures as diverse as Milton, Hobbes, Locke and Marvell, cornucopian texts and the writings of the new scientists from Bacon to Newton. At a time when the boundaries of the 'canon' are being increasingly revised, this is not only a major survey of a series of great works of literature, but also a fascinating social history and a guide to understanding the literature of the period as a whole.

Part 1: the character of Jacobean kingship, 1603-25. 1 The iconography of Charles I, 1625-49. 2 The arts in Stuart England; biography - Sir Henry Wotton, Lady Anne Clifford. 3 Cultural life during the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth, 1642-59. 4 The Restoration ethos, 1660-88; biography - John Evelyn. Part 2: the scientific milieu; biography - Sir Kenelm Digby. 5 Antiquarianism - the relevance of the past. 6 Varieties of religious experience. 7 Biography - Sir Thomas Browne, Richard Baxter. 8 Political theory. Postscript. Chronology. General bibliographies: cultural and intellectual history, religion, politics and political thought, the scientific movement, art and architecture, music, social history. Individual authors. Notes on biography, major works and criticism. Index.