Abstract
This article explores the distinctive culture of critical reading based around the
University of Cambridge in the 1590s. Drawing upon new evidence that The Trimming of Thomas Nashe (1597) was produced by a Cambridge stationer for an audience of Cambridge scholars,
it reconstructs the literary values of this community. The Trimming parodies Nashe's Have With You to Saffron‐Walden (1596). Its purported author – Richard Lichfield – draws upon his close reading of
Have With You to attack Nashe by imitating his style. Similarly, the Parnassus Plays – which were performed at St John's College, Cambridge, between 1598 and 1601
– allude to the works of Nashe and Lichfield, and offer a comparable appraisal of
contemporary literature. By unravelling the connections between Nashe, Lichfield,
and the Parnassus Plays, this article demonstrates that some writers and stationers marketed their
works to a specifically scholarly audience. These scholars used critical reading to
reinforce a sense of community that was characterized by their perceived social and
educational superiority to other readers, and that responded to their insecurities
regarding the role of professional writers in the Elizabethan book trade.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Renaissance Studies |
Volume | In press |
Early online date | 20 Aug 2018 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 20 Aug 2018 |
Keywords
- Thomas Nashe
- Cambridge
- Early Modern print
- Parnassus Plays
- Gabriel Harvey