Authorizing Words

Martin Elsky here illuminates the complex interplay of linguistic theory and textual representation in English Renaissance writing. Drawing on a wide range of materials, both literary and nonliterary, Elsky focuses on the impact of speech-oriented and writing-dominated theories of language on textual practice. Among the texts Elsky discusses are Herbert's The Temple , Bacon's Magna Instauratio , Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy , Jonson 's lyrics, and works by Lily, Colet, Ascham, and Elyot. In sh