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

The first full analysis of Bel-vedére, a late Elizabethan printed anthology of short quotations from popular poems of the time.

Lukas Erne (Edited by), Devani Singh (Edited by)

9781107190023, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 July 2020

486 pages, 10 b/w illus.
23.4 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.87 kg

'this edition is an exemplary scholarly achievement in every way.' Brian Vickers, The Review of English Studies

Bel-vedére; 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-vedére, presenting the text for today's readers and filling an important gap in the study of early modern English literature.

Introduction
1. Early modern commonplacing
2. The Bodenham miscellanies
3. The structure of Bel-vedére
4. Identifying Bel-vedére's sources: from Thomas Park to Charles Crawford
5. Identifying Bel-vedére's sources: the present edition
6. The contents of Bel-vedére
7. Textual introduction
A note on the text
A note on the annotation
List of authors and editions quoted in the annotation
Bel-vedére or The Garden of the Muses
Glossary notes
Textual notes
Appendix 1. Index of authors and texts quoted or adapted in Bel-vedére
Appendix 2. The paratext of the first edition of Bel-vedére (1600)
Appendix 3. Origins of the source identifications of the passages in Bel-vedére
Appendix 4. Bel-vedére and England's Parnassus (1600)
Index.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Shakespeare studies & criticism [DSGS], Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800 [DSBD], Poetry anthologies [various poets DCQ]