The Worlds of Renaissance Melancholy by Angus Gowland

The Worlds of Renaissance Melancholy by Angus Gowland

Angus Gowland investigates the theory of melancholy and its many applications in the Renaissance by means of a wide-ranging contextual analysis of Robert Burton's encyclopaedic Anatomy of Melancholy (first published in 1621). Approaching the Anatomy as the culmination of early modern medical, philosophical and spiritual inquiry about melancholy, Gowland examines the ways in which Burton exploited the moral psychology central to the Renaissance understanding of the condition to construct a critical vision of his intellectual and political environment. In the first sustained analysis of the evolving relationship of the Anatomy (in the various versions issued between 1621 and 1651) to late Renaissance humanist learning and early seventeenth-century England and Europe, Gowland corrects the prevailing view of the work as an unreflective digest of other authors' opinions, and reveals the Anatomy's character as a polemical literary engagement with the live intellectual, religious and political issues of its day.

Review of the hardback: '… Angus Gowland's new study demonstrates that there is still room in the field for fresh and stimulating work… Incisive and well-researched, Gowland's study offers readers a comprehensive and original examination of one of early modern England's most interesting thinkers.' Cahiers Elisabethains

Angus Gowland is Lecturer in Intellectual History at University College London.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780521867689
ISBN 10	0521867681
Title	The Worlds of Renaissance Melancholy
Author	Angus Gowland
Series	Ideas In Context
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Year published	2006-10-19
Number of pages	358
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.