Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAmong its many strengths, Siegfried’s edition enriches our understanding of Cavendish’s engagement with contemporary, especially mathematical thought, as well as with ancient Epicureanism. This accomplishment alone is of enormous value to Cavendish, to intellectual history, and to early modern women’s studies. The introduction is written with sufficient clarity to render it accessible to undergraduates as well as with a sophistication guaranteed to appeal to advanced scholars. The presentation of the texts together with the notes makes the volume highly usable to students at every level of expertise. The editor’s knowledge of relevant scholarship is impressive and never tendentious. Scholarship has a tendency to bog down; this volume provides a new, refreshing take on our understanding of the early modern period.
—Reid Barbour
Roy C. Moose Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"Among its many strengths, Siegfried’s edition enriches our understanding of Cavendish’s engagement with contemporary, especially mathematical thought, as well as with ancient Epicureanism. This accomplishment alone is of enormous value to Cavendish, to intellectual history, and to early modern women’s studies. The introduction is written with sufficient clarity to render it accessible to undergraduates as well as with a sophistication guaranteed to appeal to advanced scholars. The presentation of the texts together with the notes makes the volume highly usable to students at every level of expertise. The editor’s knowledge of relevant scholarship is impressive and never tendentious. Scholarship has a tendency to bog down; this volume provides a new, refreshing take on our understanding of the early modern period."
-- Reid Barbour, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Table of ContentsIllustrations xv
Abbreviations xvii
Acknowledgments xix
INTRODUCTION 1
POEMS AND FANCIES with THE ANIMAL PARLIAMENT 57
Dedications and Prefaces 58
Part 1 75
Part 2 138
Part 3 226
Part 4 275
Part 5 308
The Animal Parliament 347
The Conclusion 363
APPENDIX 1: Prose Omitted from the 1664 and 1668 Editions of Poems and Fancies 367
APPENDIX 2: Comparative Sample Poems from the 1653 Edition of Poems and Fancies 369
Bibliography 377
Index of Poem Titles 401
Index of First Lines 411
Index 421
