Edward Benlowes (1602-1676) : Biography of a Minor Poet

The first full-length biography of this English poet. Heir to a devout Catholic family, Benlowes became a zealous Protestant; he achieved celebrity and then oblivion as a poet; he passed from dazzling opulence to death in destitution; and throughout he was a representative figure of his age. PREFACE CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE. FAMILY TRADITION CHAPTER TWO. CATHOLIC UPBRINGING CHAPTER THREE. EDUCATION CHAPTER FOUR. TRAVEL CHAPTER FIVE. RETURN HOME CHAPTER SIX. PROTESTANT CHAPTER SEVEN. PHINEAS FLETCHER AND FRANCIS QUARLES CHAPTER EIGHT. MAN OF PROPERTY CHAPTER NINE. OCCUPATIONS OF A GENTLEMAN CHAPTER TEN. READING CHAPTER ELEVEN. WRITING CHAPTER TWELVE. CIVIL WAR CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE LITERARY GENTLEMAN DURING THE CIVIL WAR CHAPTER FOURTEEN. IN ACTION FOR THE KING CHAPTER FIFTEEN. AFTER THE WAR CHAPTER SIXTEEN. INTRODUCTION TO A MAGNUM OPUS CHAPTER SEVENTEEN. THEOPHILA CHAPTER EIGHTEEN. ACCRETIONS TO THE WORK CHAPTER NINETEEN. PRAISE OF THE WORK CHAPTER TWENTY. PUBLICATION OF THE WORK CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE. END OF THE LANDED GENTLEMAN CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO. POEMS AND LAWSUITS CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE. IN CHANCERY CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR. OXFORD CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE. LAST POEMS CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX. PAUPER APPENDICES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX I. FROM BENLOWES’ NOTEBOOK APPENDIX II. BENLOWES’ BORROWINGS FROM MILTON APPENDIX III. PEN-AND-INK CORRECTIONS IN THEOPHILA APPENDIX IV. ENGRAVINGS AND DECORATIONS IN THEOPHILA APPENDIX V. PARALLEL PASSAGES IN THEOPHILA AND THE SUMMARY OF WISΕDOΜΕ BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES INDEX