Synopses & Reviews
Katherine Duncan-Jones has published over forty articles on Elizabethan and Jacobean literature. Her biography Sir Philip Sidney: Courtier Poet appeared in 1991, and her Ungentle Shakespeare: Scenes from his Life was published by the Arden Shakespeare in 2001. She is a Tutorial Fellow in English at Somerville College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In the introduction of this Arden edition, Katherine Duncan-Jones first approaches the complex task of dating the sonnets, detailing their early history of piracy and misattribution that vexed Shakespeare and confused scholars. This discussion continues with a thorough publishing history of Shakespeare's Sonnets, beginning with the oft-questioned 1609 Quarto (which the editor believes was indeed authorized by Shakespeare) and continuing into the late eighteenth-century, with analysis of the varying presentations of the text by different publishers. After commenting on the early reception and later criticism of the sonnets, Duncan-Jones gives her own illuminating critical analysis of the poems, with special attention to the structure of the works and the inclusion of A Lover's Complaint. Following the text of the sonnets themselves (which features commentary on the pages opposite each poem) are an appendix on manuscript texts, a list of abbreviations for references, and a first-line index. "The annotation is consistently thoughtful and well judged, giving plenty of precise help with lexical and syntactical problems, and offering valuable verbal and cultural analogues from contemporary literature...this must now be the edition of first resort."Paul Hammond, Review of English Studies "Sharpens our focus on the documentary record of the Sonnets, and gives the best scholarly account yet of some of its words."Alastair Fowler, Times Literary Supplement "[This] edition . . . edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones, is the clearest, most complete and up-to-date there is. She is the first editor for general readers not to mumble when dealing with the homoerotic aspect. Under her meticulous direction, the sequence opens out like a magical garden, its beauties enhanced, its mysterious prospects illuminated."Duncan Fallowell, The Independent "It is Duncan-Jones's intention as scholar and critic to confront the issue of sexuality which Kerrigan and other editors have consistently side-stepped . . . Hers is an edition which uniquely makes the Sonnets issue from the body's moods as well as the mind's."Tom Paulin, London Review of Books "[This] edition, handsome, crisp in annotation, and rich in historical detail, shows that the Sonnets are effectively Shakespeare's life's work . . . Its most radical claim is not the familiar one that the poems are homosexual, but that Shakespeare authorized their publication."Evening Standard
Synopsis
'The annotation is consistently thoughtful and well judged, giving plenty of precise help with lexical and syntactical problems, and offering valuable verbal and cultural analogues from contemporary literature' 'No edition of these difficult and controversial poems will command agreement at all points, but this must now be the edition of first resort' Paul Hammond, Review of English Studies 'sharpens our focus on the documentary record of the Sonnets, and gives the best scholarly account yet of some of its words.' Alastair Fowler, Times Literary Supplement "The new edition...edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones, is the clearest, most complete and up-to-date there is. She is the first editor for general readers not to mumble when dealing with the homoerotic aspect. Under her meticulous direction, the sequence opens out like a magical garden, its beauties enhanced, its mysterious prospects illuminated." Duncan Fallowell, The Independent Â'It is Duncan-JonesÂ's intention as scholar and critic to confront the issue of sexuality which Kerrigan and other editors have consistently side-stepped...Hers is an edition which uniquely makes the Sonnets issue from the bodyÂ's moods as well as the mindÂ's.Â' Tom Paulin, London Review of Books Â'This new edition, handsome, crisp in annotation, and rich in historical detail, shows that the Sonnets are effectively ShakespeareÂ's lifeÂ's work...Its most radical claim is not the familiar one that the poems are homosexual, but that Shakespeare authorised their publication.Â' Evening Standard
Synopsis
Katherine Duncan-Jones has published over forty articles on Elizabethan and Jacobean literature. Her biography Sir Philip Sidney: Courtier Poet appeared in 1991, and her Ungentle Shakespeare: Scenes from his Life was published by the Arden Shakespeare in 2001. She is a Tutorial Fellow in English at Somerville College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In the introduction of this Arden edition, Katherine Duncan-Jones first approaches the complex task of dating the sonnets, detailing their early history of piracy and misattribution that vexed Shakespeare and confused scholars. This discussion continues with a thorough publishing history of Shakespeare's Sonnets, beginning with the oft-questioned 1609 Quarto (which the editor believes was indeed authorized by Shakespeare) and continuing into the late eighteenth-century, with analysis of the varying presentations of the text by different publishers. After commenting on the early reception and later criticism of the sonnets, Duncan-Jones gives her own illuminating critical analysis of the poems, with special attention to the structure of the works and the inclusion of A Lover's Complaint. Following the text of the sonnets themselves (which features commentary on the pages opposite each poem) are an appendix on manuscript texts, a list of abbreviations for references, and a first-line index. The annotation is consistently thoughtful and well judged, giving plenty of precise help with lexical and syntactical problems, and offering valuable verbal and cultural analogues from contemporary literature...this must now be the edition of first resort.--Paul Hammond, Review of English Studies Sharpens our focus on the documentary record of the Sonnets, and gives the best scholarly account yet of some of its words.--Alastair Fowler, Times Literary Supplement This] edition . . . edited by Katherine Duncan-Jones, is the clearest, most complete and up-to-date there is. She is the first editor for general readers not to mumble when dealing with the homoerotic aspect. Under her meticulous direction, the sequence opens out like a magical garden, its beauties enhanced, its mysterious prospects illuminated.--Duncan Fallowell, The Independent It is Duncan-Jones's intention as scholar and critic to confront the issue of sexuality which Kerrigan and other editors have consistently side-stepped . . . Hers is an edition which uniquely makes the Sonnets issue from the body's moods as well as the mind's.--Tom Paulin, London Review of Books This] edition, handsome, crisp in annotation, and rich in historical detail, shows that the Sonnets are effectively Shakespeare's life's work . . . Its most radical claim is not the familiar one that the poems are homosexual, but that Shakespeare authorized their publication.--Evening Standard
Table of Contents
List of illustrations General Editors preface Preface INTRODUCTION Date Publishing history Context and allusion Reception and criticism Shakespeare?s Sonnets This edition SHAKESPEARE?S SONNETS Sonnets A Lover?s Complaint Appendix: Manuscript texts Abbreviations and References Index First line index