Bel-vedere or the Garden of the Muses: An Early Modern Printed Commonplace Book

Description

Bel-vedere; or The Garden of the Muses is an early modern printed commonplace book containing an anthology of nearly 4,500 short verse quotations arranged under topical headings. The book first appeared in 1600 and a second edition was published in 1610. It is of exceptional importance for the early historical reception of early modern authors such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe (whose verse it includes); for the late Elizabethan practice of commonplacing; for the rising status of English literature (including dramatic literature); and for early modern English canon formation. Until now the book has never been properly edited. This edition provides the first full analysis of the contents of Bel-vedere, presenting the text for today's readers and filling an important gap in the study of early modern English literature.

Lukas Erne is Professor of English at the University of Geneva. He is the author of Shakespeare as Literary Dramatist (Cambridge, 2nd edition, 2013), Shakespeare and the Book Trade (2013), Shakespeare's Modern Collaborators (2007), and Beyond 'The Spanish Tragedy': A Study of the Works of Thomas Kyd (2002). He has edited The First Quarto of Romeo and Juliet (Cambridge, 2007), Soliman and Perseda (2015), Textual Performances: The Modern Reproduction of Shakespeare's Drama, with M. J. Kidnie (Cambridge, 2004) and Medieval and Early Modern Authorship, with Guillemette Bolens (2011). Devani Singh is a Research Fellow at Universite de Geneve. Her publications include essays in The Chaucer Review and the Journal of the Early Book Society, and Shakespeare in Geneva (with Lukas Erne, 2018).

'This meticulously edited volume, which has a splendidly substantial introduction, provides us with a window into late Elizabethan culture and its role in establishing the tradition of English literature.' Andrew Hadfield, The Times Literary Supplement 'Erne and Singh ... have done a wonderful job editing Bel-vedere, an important commonplace book originally published in 1600 ...Their introduction is informative, the attributions of authorship for quotations are established through well-defined research in respected sources, and the appendixes aid the reader in the use and understanding of the book. This is an excellent and delightful scholarly work.' J. D. Sharpe, Choice '[Erne and Singh's] edition is an exemplary scholarly achievement in every way ... this volume is a major contribution to Elizabethan literary history, beautifully produced by Cambridge University Press.' Brian Vickers, The Review of English Studies 'this edition is an exemplary scholarly achievement in every way.' Brian Vickers, The Review of English Studies