Bess of Hardwicks Letters

Bess of Hardwicks Letters by Alison Wiggins

Bess of Hardwick's Lettersis the first book-length study of thec.250 letters to and from the remarkable Elizabethan dynast, matriarch and builder of houses Bess of Hardwick (c.1527-1608). By surveying the complete correspondence, author Alison Wiggins uncovers the wide range of uses to which Bess put letters: they were vital to her engagement in the overlapping realms of politics, patronage, business, legal negotiation, news-gathering and domestic life. Much more than a case study of Bess's letters, the discussions of language, handwriting and materiality found here have fundamental implications for the way we approach and read Renaissance letters. Wiggins offers readings which show how Renaissance letters communicated meaning through the interweaving linguistic, palaeographic and material forms, according to socio-historical context and function. The study goes beyond the letters themselves and incorporates a range of historical sources to situate circumstances of production and reception, which include Account Books, inventories, needlework and textile art and architecture. The study is therefore essential reading for scholars in historical linguistics, historical pragmatics, palaeography and manuscript studies, material culture, English literature and social history.

Alison Wiggins is a senior lecturer in English Language at the University of Glasgow, UK.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780367140335
ISBN 10	0367140330
Title	Bess of Hardwicks Letters
Author	Alison Wiggins
Series	Material Readings In Early Modern Culture
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Taylor & Francis Ltd
Year published	2019-01-17
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.