Long after the establishment of printing, many important writers and composers still preferred to publish their work in handwritten copies. Works transmitted this way included some of the most distinguished poetry and music of the seventeenth century, as well as a rich variety of political, scientific, antiquarian, and philosophical writings. This new study is the first to examine scribal publication and its relevance for book trade history, the sociology of authorship, and the communication of ideas.

"This should prove an important book for various reasons and readers. In fact, it should help nearly all scholars of early modern history and literature....An ususually valuable volume....Love's study has something to interest anyone who is interested in early modern culture. His work is the fruit

of wide reading and careful thought, and it clearly merits both in return."--Sixteenth Century Journal

"There is far more in this astonishingly rich book than I can possibly rehearse here, and I can only point to a reading of Mac Flecknoe in full awareness of its scribal publication....A memorable put-down of Jonathan Goldberg, some dazzling pages on `Swift, Script and Print', and some new and

persuasive reflections on `Editing Scribally Published Texts'. Scribal publication was the preferred form of publication for Donne, King, Carew, Marvell, Rochester, and Dorset. This learned book will encourage scholars to be more aware of the practice."--Modern Language Review

"The modesty of Harold Love's title does not fully prepare the reader for the riches of this book."--Bibliographical Society of America

"Scribal Publication in Seventeenth-Century England does what most scholars wish they could and what few actually accomplish. By envisioning manuscript artifacts not as grist for print editions but rather as evidence of past activity, Love opens up a new arena for inquiry."--Early Modern "Literary

Studies

"Engaging and informative, an important reference work for almost anyone who takes up scholarly research in the field....Scribal Publications ought to attract a great deal of exciting new scholarship in the theory and practice of manuscript production and transmission."--Seventeenth-Century News

Long after the establishment of printing in England, many writers and composers still preferred to publish their work through handwritten copies. Texts so transmitted included some of the most distinguished poetry and music of the seventeenth century, along with a rich variety of political, scientific antiquarian, and philosophical writings. While censorship was one reason for this persistence of the older practice, scribal publication remained the norm for texts which were required only in small numbers, or whose authors wished to avoid 'the stigma of print'. The present study is the first to consider the trade in manuscripts as an important supplement to that in printed books, and to describe the agencies that met the need for rapid duplication of key texts. By integrating a large body of findings already available concerning particular texts and authors it provides an arresting new perspective on authorship and the communication of ideas.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 357-366) and index.