Published January 2008
Tudor Literature
Edited by Andrew Hiscock
Yearbook of English Studies 38.1/2
Published May 2008
Casimir Britannicus: English Translations, Paraphrases, and Emulations of the Poetry of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski
Edited by Piotr Urbański and Krzysztof Fordoński
Critical Texts 11
Published October 2008
Cosmos and Image in the Renaissance: French Love Lyric and Natural-Philosophical Poetry
Kathryn Banks
Legenda (General Series)
- ‘A powerful interpretation of the relationship of cosmic and linguistic images... a thoughtful and thought-provoking analysis into sixteenth-century poetry and intellectual history.’ — Michael Randall, Renaissance Quarterly 62, 2009, 1237-38
- ‘Dans cet ouvrage savant, où l'érudition ne nuit jamais à la clarté de l'exposé, l'auteur choisit de réexaminer ce que Lucien Febvre appelait "l'outillage mental" du seizième siècle mais en s'attachant moins à la circulation des idées ... qu'à leur expression linguistique et au jeu auquel les soumet le poète ... Du point de vue méthodologique de nombreuses précautions sont prises, à la fois dans l'introduction et dans le corps de l'analyse ... une stratégie d'exposition qui, loin de ramener le différent au même, entend refuser l'emprise de tout schéma téléologique.’ — Francois Rigolot, French Review 83.4, March 2010, 859
- ‘This is a scholarly and rewarding study based pleasingly on close readings of an interesting combination of texts [...] a detailed and authoritative account of images which goes beyond the purely linguistic, situating its material both within a developing tradition in the history of ideas and against a backdrop of contemporary political, philosophical and theological debates. As such, with its broad and thoroughly researched range of references to writers in different disciplines and genres, it is of as much interest to the general reader as it is to specialists of Scève or Du Bartas.’ — Emma Herdman, Renaissance Studies 24.3, June 2010, 451-52
- ‘Exemplarily lucid explorations of a number of difficult problems in sixteenth-century poetic theory and practice.’ — James Helgeson, French Studies 65.2, April 2011, 239-40
- ‘A rich, persuasive account of some extraordinary poetry and a fascinating period of intellectual and literary history.’ — 'MHG', St Catharine's Magazine 2009, p. 85
Published March 2009
Angelo Beolco (il Ruzante), La prima oratione
Edited by Linda L. Carroll
Critical Texts 16
- ‘This volume is undoubtedly a welcome addition to our knowledge and understanding of the most remarkable author-actor of the Italian Renaissance. This is especially so textually, in its bringing a significant and neglected work—in terms of theatre and ideas—to an anglophone audience, and in its raising provocative questions about the degree of daring and the limits of the polemical in Ruzante.’ — Ronnie Ferguson, Modern Language Review 105.2, 2010, 576-79 (full text online)
- ‘A complete scholarly edition of the work transcribing all three manuscript versions of the oration ... This volume should be welcomed by scholars of the period.’ — Martin W. Walsh, Sixteenth Century Journal XLIV:2, 2013, 618-19
Published July 2009
Richard Robinson, The Rewarde of Wickednesse
Edited by Allyna E. Ward
Critical Texts 17
Boccaccio and the Book: Production and Reading in Italy 1340-1520
Rhiannon Daniels
Italian Perspectives 19
- ‘This descriptive study provides many details that will benefit any scholar interested in the reception of Boccaccio’s works before the transformations they undergo in the later Cinquecento.’ — Martin Eisner, Renaissance Quarterly 63.2, 2010, 545-46
- ‘Original and highly detailed... Chapter 1 could usefully be recommended to students of the history of the book in Italy for the clarity with which it presents all of the aspects that need to be considered in a discussion of readership, reception, production, and paratext, in both manuscripts and printed books... A significant contribution to the history of the book in Italy.’ — Jane Everson, Modern Language Review 106.2, April 2011, 564-66 (full text online)
- ‘This book is a valuable and stimulating contribution to the reception history of Boccaccio. Particularly interesting is the way that Daniels looks at manuscripts and printed editions that have not been given their due, and the reader will constantly come across intriguing details.’ — K. P. Clarke, Medium Aevum 74, 2010
Published October 2010
Le Gouvernement présent, ou éloge de son Eminence, satyre ou la Miliade
Edited by Paul Scott
Critical Texts 14
- ‘Paul Scott’s edition is both meticulous and erudite ... [the] astute analysis of the political and literary significance of the poem will be of broad interest to scholars who work on the political and cultural history of early modern France.’ — Peter Shoemaker, Modern Language Review 107.2, 2012, 618-20 (full text online)
- ‘The editor convincingly argues that the Miliade deserves our attention today as not only the first significant satire since the years of the Catholic League in the 1580s, but also the pamphlet that, in an increasingly centralized and controlled public sphere, made an audacious claim for the possibility of resistance ... This erudite edition will interest students of seventeenth-century history, literature, and all those interested in the history of political dissent.’ — Antonia Szabari, Renaissance Quarterly 67, 2014, 565-66
- ‘Après 90 pages de riche présentation, l’édition elle-même occupe 30 pages complétées de d’autant de notes (32 pages) qui en permettent la plus exacte compréhension ... [une] excellente édition.’ — Françoise Hildesheimer, Dix-septième siècle 258, 2013, 171-72
- ‘In this impeccably researched new edition, editor Paul Scott shows exactly why this pamphlet should be taken seriously ... I have no doubt that this edition will be essential reading for all scholars of the period.’ — Nicholas Hammond, Seventeenth Century XXVII, 2012, 246-47
Casimir Britannicus: English Translations, Paraphrases, and Emulations of the Poetry of Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski
Edited by Piotr Urbański and Krzysztof Fordoński
Critical Texts 25
- ‘The anthology is a sound philological achievement which illustrates an important link between the mostly Protestant English and Scottish poets and their most famous Polish Catholic counterpart, a continuous poetic interest from the mid-seventeenth to the nineteenth century. ‘Casimir Britannicus’ thus becomes for us Sarbiewski rediscovered.’ — George Gömöri, Modern Language Review 107.3, July 2012, 1007-09 (full text online)
- ‘In the well written and well-structured introduction to the volume ... Krzysztof Fordoński and Piotr Urbański identify six waves of Sarbiewski’s long-lasting popularity ... The editors did an excellent job in assembling this carefully thought out critical edition.’ — Robert Maryks, Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu July-December 2011, 758-59
- ‘These days, enthusiasts of Neo-Latin poetry in general, and Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (Sarbievius) in particular, are few and far between. Perhaps only they will recognize the great importance of this new anthology, but all who do take cognizance of it will receive it with gratitude.’ — Charles S. Kraszewski, Polish Review Fall 2008
- ‘Casimir Britannicus is a landmark publication.’ — Anne Barbeau Gardiner, Sarmatian Review 30.1, January 2010, 1469-71
Published December 2010
Memoirs of Mademoiselle de Montpensier (La Grande Mademoiselle)
Translated by P. J. Yarrow with the collaboration of William Brooks
New Translations 1
- ‘This new version of Mademoiselle’s memoirs is particularly well-suited to undergraduate teaching as it highlights the Fronde, court life and manners, and the life of noble women in the seventeenth century. It also constitutes a valuable contribution to the history of sentiments and emotions.’ — Elise M. Dermineur, French History 30, 2016, 429-30
- ‘This volume is the first in an exciting series of new editions of classic works translated into English published by the Modern Humanities Research Association ... [T]his is a highly readable translation of an eminently readable memoir ... [It] provides an efficient, clean, easy to read and well-presented edition that will be quite useful for undergraduate teaching.’ — Jonathan Spangler, H-France 11, August 2011
- ‘This remarkable volume will appeal to a range of readers—amateurs d’histoire, undergraduates, or anglophone researchers seeking a vivid aperçu of courtly life in seventeenth-century France. It bodes well for the MHRA New Translations series, of which this is the first and as such sets a high standard indeed.’ — Juliette Cherbuliez, Modern Language Review 107, 2012, 1253-54 (full text online)
Published January 2011
Travel and Prose Fiction in Early Modern England
Edited by Nandini Das
Yearbook of English Studies 41.1
Published September 2011
Humphrey Llwyd, The Breviary of Britain with selections from The History of Cambria
Edited by Philip Schwyzer
Tudor and Stuart Translations 5
- ‘These are complex texts, the further study of which will be facilitated, and should be encouraged, by this edition.’ — David N. Parsons, Translation and Literature 21, 2012, 246
- ‘This modern edition of Humphrey Llwyd is a welcome addition to the scholarship ... Schwyzer's work presents a compelling case for a greater recognition of Llwyd's contributions.’ — Ronald H. Fritze, Sixteenth Century Journal XLIV, 2013, 200
Gavin Douglas, The Aeneid (1513): Part One: Introduction, Books I-VIII
Edited by Gordon Kendal
Tudor and Stuart Translations 7/1 of 2
- ‘This edition is most welcome. No lover of Douglas or of Virgil has any excuse for not buying it.’ — Alastair Fowler, Times Literary Supplement 27 April 2012, 5
- ‘Kendal’s edition accomplishes what the series sets out to do: here is a version of Douglas’ translation that will allow a non-specialist audience to read it more fluently and enjoy it. A broader audience and a teaching function might also be promoted by the text’s digital availability. As Douglas wished his translation to ‘be repute a needful work’ for Virgil, so this edition should become for those who would present Douglas’ translation effectively to a broader modern audience.’ — Sheldon Brammall, Translation and Literature 21, 2012, 241
Gavin Douglas, The Aeneid (1513): Part Two: Books IX – XIII, Appendices, Glossary, Index
Edited by Gordon Kendal
Tudor and Stuart Translations 7/2 of 2
- ‘This edition is most welcome. No lover of Douglas or of Virgil has any excuse for not buying it.’ — Alastair Fowler, Times Literary Supplement 27 April 2012, 5
- ‘Kendal’s edition accomplishes what the series sets out to do: here is a version of Douglas’ translation that will allow a non-specialist audience to read it more fluently and enjoy it. A broader audience and a teaching function might also be promoted by the text’s digital availability. As Douglas wished his translation to ‘be repute a needful work’ for Virgil, so this edition should become for those who would present Douglas’ translation effectively to a broader modern audience.’ — Sheldon Brammall, Translation and Literature 21, 2012, 241
Published October 2012
Elizabethan Seneca: Three Tragedies
Edited by James Ker and Jessica Winston
Tudor and Stuart Translations 8
- ‘This important edition will act as a stimulus for further comparative work: it will help to reconfigure our valuation of Elizabethan Seneca not just in terms of its legacy (important though that is) but as an innovative literary endeavour in its own right.’ — Sarah Dewar-Watson, Times Literary Supplement 5 April 2013, 27
- ‘It is appropriate and welcome that one of the first volumes in the attractive new MHRA series gives [the translations] the stage to themselves for a while, and an occasion even for those who already more or less know them to look at them afresh.’ — Gordon Braden, Translation and Literature 22, 2013, 274
- ‘Seneca is enjoying a renaissance of sorts, prompting reevaluations of both his plays and their afterlives. This intelligently conceived and carefully edited volume offers a valuable opportunity to examine the evidence firsthand ... This volume is clear, intelligent, and informed by current scholarship; it will be valuable for scholars with an interest in Seneca, Elizabethan translation, classical reception, academic drama, and/or the development of tragedy.’ — Tanya Pollard, Renaissance Quarterly 66, 2013, 1513-14
- ‘This edition will be tremendously useful not just to scholars working on classical transmission or early modern drama, but also to those looking at Elizabethan literary culture as a whole. Ker and Winston successfully demonstrate the centrality of Seneca to the Elizabethan literary landscape and open doors for a wide variety of potential areas of enquiry.’ — Kavita Mudan Finn, Sixteenth Century Journal 45, 2014, 474-75
- ‘An excellent entry-point for students to the contexts both of the Senecan originals and of the Tudor translations.’ — Andrew J. Power, Modern Language Review 110, 2015, 238-39 (full text online)
Published January 2013
Early English Drama
Edited by Pamela M. King, Sue Niebrzydowski and Diana Wyatt
Yearbook of English Studies 43
Published February 2013
The Signifying Self: Cervantine Drama as Counter-Perspective Aesthetic
Melanie Henry
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 83
Renaissance Keywords
Edited by Ita Mac Carthy
Legenda (General Series)
- ‘A thoughtful, well-written and engaging volume whose accessible presentation of wide-ranging but precise detail should appeal to the Renaissance specialist and the general reader alike.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 50.2, April 2014, 231
- ‘These chapters share an approach, drawing insights from close attention to both dictionary definitions and uses of terms in different contexts, and thereby provide excellent examples of ‘word histories’.’ — Hugh Roberts, French Studies 68.2, April 2014, 241-42
- ‘By bringing together intellectual history and philology in ways that are both rigorous and ambitious, the essays in Renaissance Keywords constitute a great contribution to the field of Renaissance and early modern studies. The book, however, transcends the limits of its field and offers anyone interested in the history of ideas important insights of the ways in which lan- guage in its ever-evolving nature determines ideas and worldviews.’ — Pablo Maurette, Modern Philology 112.3, February 2015, E231-33
Published June 2013
Les Costeaux, ou les marquis frians, by Jean Donneau de Visé
Edited by Peter William Shoemaker
Critical Texts 31
- ‘Complemented with a plethora of detailed endnotes providing much detail about areas such as culinary practice (from wild-duck recipes to the oenophilic topography of France), this edition has much to offer scholars of, and all those interested in, the early modern period.’ — Paul Scott, French Studies 69, 2015, 527
Published August 2013
English Renaissance Translation Theory
Edited by Neil Rhodes with Gordon Kendal and Louise Wilson
Tudor and Stuart Translations 9
- ‘Not only is the anthology representative, but it is rich in the diversity of opinions expressed ... Needless to say, this is a must acquisition for those interested in those redoubtable early English translators as artisans and cultural mediators reflecting, after the fact, upon how the instruments of translation do what they do, and according to whose bidding.’ — Donald Beecher, Renaissance and Reformation 37.2, 2014, 187-90
- ‘The general editors' ambitions ... are brilliantly realized ... This is an invaluable work that will shape future directions in early modern translation studies.’ — Liz Oakley-Brown, Renaissance Quarterly 68, 2015, 383-84
- ‘Supremely useful ... this volume will be a major spur to translation studies.’ — Barbara Fuchs, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 55, 2015, 225
- ‘English Renaissance Translation Theory is an important work – a necessary one, indeed [...] from now on, nobody working on translation in the Tudor and early Stuart periods will wish to be without it.’ — Massimiliano Morini, Translation and Literature 23, 2014, 390-93
- ‘A substantial and illuminating introduction opens up debates familiar to scholars and translators today, such as whether to privilege word over sense, or to prefer poesy or prose in translation, and situates them firmly in their renaissance context.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 50, 2014, 505
- ‘This is an important book that will prove an invaluable resource to undergraduates new to translation theory and to the more informed reader alike.’ — Rachel Willie, Modern Language Review 111, 2016, 538 (full text online)
- ‘The most comprehensive anthology of English Renaissance Translation Theory that has ever been printed, and it will be a trusted companion text for generations of future scholars.’ — Joshua Reid, Spenser Review 45.2.34, Fall 2015
Published October 2013
Frontier Memory: Cultural Conflict and Exchange in the Romancero fronterizo
Sizen Yiacoup
MHRA Texts and Dissertations 87
Ovid in English, 1480-1625: Part One: Metamorphoses
Edited by Sarah Annes Brown and Andrew Taylor
Tudor and Stuart Translations 4/1 of 2
- ‘This volume is particularly useful for those interested in translation and adaptation culture in early modern England and could be especially valuable for scholars working on the specific myths highlighted.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 50, 2014, 503
- ‘This is a beautifully presented edition of a selection of early modern translations of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which manages to be both student-friendly and a provocative resource to stimulate further research.’ — Tamsin Badcoe, Modern Language Review 110, 2015, 1110-11 (full text online)
- ‘The comprehensibility, and thus accessibility, of each item is incomparably enhanced by the editors’ modernization of texts, by their full annotation (both in the form of marginal glosses and extensive on-the-page commentary), and by their lengthy and learned Introduction which sets each piece in context and points out its potential interest for students of both English and classical literature.’ — David Hopkins, Translation and Literature 23, 2014, 402-04
- ‘Brown and Taylor provide a real service to the student not only of the reception of the Metamorphoses in the English Renaissance but also of the pervasive Ovidianism in Tudor and Stuart literary culture. This attractively produced volume should spur new interest in the Ovidian vogue in early modern England.’ — Alison Keith, Renaissance and Reformation 39, 2016, 214-17
James Mabbe, The Spanish Bawd
Edited by José María Pérez Fernández
Tudor and Stuart Translations 10
- ‘This edited volume is a valuable contribution to early modern translation studies; it opens this neglected tragicomedy to new audiences, offers an erudite consideration of Mabbe’s text and its place within a complex web of literary and cultural exchange, and lays a solid foundation for future scholarship on La Celestina and The Spanish Bawd.’ — Edel Semple, Renaissance Quarterly 68, 2015, 1488-89
- ‘Required reading for anyone with an interest in Mabbe and early Stuart Hispanism ... Pérez’s edition of The Spanish Bawd is the authoritative edition, the one I think scholars of the period will most want to have on their bookshelves.’ — John R. Yamamoto-Wilson, Translation and Literature 24, 2015, 99-103
- ‘This MHRA edition, modernized for accessibility, offers an excellent point of entry to both early modern Spanish literature and renaissance translation.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 51, 2015, 231
Published January 2014
Caroline Literature
Edited by Rory Loughnane, Andrew J. Power and Peter Sillitoe
Yearbook of English Studies 44
Published March 2014
Antonio Malatesti, La Tina. Equivoci rusticali
Edited by Davide Messina
Critical Texts 41
- ‘Dobbiamo rendere merito a Davide Messina, Senior Lecturer presso l’Università di Edimburgo e fine studioso di letteratura italiana del Seicento, se possiamo leggere ed apprezzare i cinquanta sonetti che compongono la raccolta poetica’ — Mario Ceroti, Mosaici online at www.mosaici.org.uk, 2014
Published July 2014
Margaret Tyler, Mirror of Princely Deeds and Knighthood
Edited by Joyce Boro
Tudor and Stuart Translations 11
- ‘Boro’s judicious use of textual notes, the glossary, and her explanatory introduction, make this edition accessible to a wide audience and suitable for introducing new readers to Early Modern chivalric romance.’ — unsigned notice, Forum for Modern Language Studies 51, 2015, 237
- ‘[This] very complete edition, with a useful introduction, is particularly welcome given the recent critical interest in Tyler's prologue to her Mirror.’ — Barbara Fuchs, Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 55, 2015, 226
- ‘Her discussion of the proto-feminist implications of Tyler’s translation, as well as its preface, is a model of careful and thorough linguistic analysis. Attractively priced, her edition should do much to extend the readership of The Mirror of Princely Deeds and Knighthood, and is a welcome addition to this excellent MHRA series.’ — Gillian Wright, Translation and Literature 24, 2015, 254-55
- ‘Boro's expertly annotated edition ... a useful tool for students and scholars of early modern exchange.’ — Hannah Leah Crummé, Times Literary Supplement 23 January 2015, 26
- ‘This edition makes a substantial contribution to Elizabethan studies.’ — H. Gaston Hall, Cahiers Élisabéthains 87, 2015
- ‘Boro’s introduction does a fine job of summarizing the previous fifteen years of intense scholarly interest on Tyler’s work, and clearly articulates avenues for further investigation and inquiry.’ — Aaron Taylor Miedema, Renaissance and Reformation 39.3, Summer 2016, 217-18