Description
Book SynopsisJohn Taylor was a prolific and colourful popular writer who gives us a unique picture of England from James I to the civil war through the eyes of a London waterman. This is the first full study of the self-styled `King's Water-Poet' who carved out a pioneering role for himself as a `media celebrity' and became a national institution.
Trade ReviewClearly written and tightly organised, it provides a model of sound argument based on an impressive range of reading...this short but thoughtful book makes a distinctive contribution to the social and cultural history of early modern England * Sixteenth Century Journal *
Bernard Capp's informative new book analyzes the life and writings of one seventeenth-century "Amphibium," ... Taylor emerges from Capp's lucid, richly detailed study as a man who strove to create an identity for himself by negotiating the divided and distinguished worlds of early modern English society and culture. Literary scholars will be most interested by Capp's account of Taylor's struggle to gain respect as an author. * Marjorie Swann, University of Kansas, Albion, Winter '95 *
