English Biography in the Seventeenth Century : A Critical Survey

Examining a rich range of texts, __English Biography in the Seventeenth Century__ is a survey of a field important for both literary and wider cultural reasons.

Although biography is one of today's most flourishing literary genres, its early history has attracted much less attention than that of other forms, a neglect that is especially apparent in the case of the formative period of English biography, the seventeenth century. This new work by Allan Pritchard fills the scholarly void by providing a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of this period's biographical writings.

After charting the growth of seventeenth-century biographical writing, Pritchard explores the ways in which traditional forms of religious biography and lives of princes and other secular figures were adapted to, and transformed by, the crises and revolutions of the period. He then considers the development of less traditional biographical types and analyzes the emergence of a 'new biography,' concerned essentially with individuality and with private as well as public life.

Examining a rich range of texts, English Biography in the Seventeenth Century is a survey of a field important for both literary and wider cultural reasons.

Although biography is one of today’s most flourishing literary genres, its early history has attracted much less attention than that of other forms, a neglect that is especially apparent in the case of the formative period of English biography, the seventeenth century. This new work by Allan Pritchard fills the scholarly void by providing a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of this period’s biographical writings.

After charting the growth of seventeenth-century biographical writing, Pritchard explores the ways in which traditional forms of religious biography and lives of princes and other secular figures were adapted to, and transformed by, the crises and revolutions of the period. He then considers the development of less traditional biographical types and analyzes the emergence of a ‘new biography,’ concerned essentially with individuality and with private as well as public life.

Examining a rich range of texts, English Biography in the Seventeenth Century is a survey of a field important for both literary and wider cultural reasons.

Annotation Although biography is one of today's most flourishing literary genres, its early history has attracted much less attention than that of other forms, a neglect that is especially apparent in the case of the formative period of English biography, the seventeenth century. This new work by Allan Pritchard fills the scholarly void by providing a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of this period's biographical writings. After charting the growth of seventeenth-century biographical writing, Pritchard explores the ways in which traditional forms of religious biography and lives of princes and other secular figures were adapted to, and transformed by, the crises and revolutions of the period. He then considers the development of less traditional biographical types and analyzes the emergence of a 'new biography, ' concerned essentially with individuality and with private as well as public life. Examining a rich range of texts, English Biography in the Seventeenth Centuryis a survey of a field important for both literary and wider cultural reasons Although biography is one of today?s most flourishing literary genres, its early history has attracted much less attention than that of other forms, a neglect that is especially apparent in the case of the formative period of English biography, the seventeenth century. This new work by Allan Pritchard fills the scholarly void by providing a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of this period?s biographical writings. After charting the growth of seventeenth-century biographical writing, Pritchard explores the ways in which traditional forms of religious biography and lives of princes and other secular figures were adapted to, and transformed by, the crises and revolutions of the period. He then considers the development of less traditional biographical types and analyzes the emergence of a?new biography,? concerned essentially with individuality and with private as well as public life. Examining a rich range of texts, English Biography in the Seventeenth Century is a survey of a field important for both literary and wider cultural reasons "Although biography is one of today's most flourishing literary genres, its early history has attracted much less attention than that of other forms, a neglect that is especially apparent in the case of the formative period of English biography, the seventeenth century. This new work by Allan Pritchard fills the scholarly void by providing a wide-ranging and comprehensive survey of this period's biographical writings." "After charting the growth of seventeenth-century biographical writing, Pritchard explores the ways in which traditional forms of religious biography and lives of princes and other secular figures were adapted to, and transformed by, the crises and revolutions of the period. He then considers the development of less traditional biographical types and analyses the emergence of a 'new biography,' concerned essentially with individuality and with private as well as public life."--Résumé de l'éditeur Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 Introduction 9 1. The Growth of Biographical Writing 17 2. Lives of the Protestant Saints 38 3. Patterns in Religious Biography 61 4. Izaak Walton’s Lives 86 5. Lives of Public Figures 99 6. Lives of Writers: Scientists and Antiquaries 122 7. Lives of the Poets 136 8. Brief Lives: Thomas Fuller and Anthony Wood 153 9. Brief Lives: John Aubrey 178 10. Biography as Family History 207 11. Roger North: Lives of the Norths 227 Notes 251 Bibliography 287 Index 297 "After charting the growth of seventeenth-century biographical writing, Pritchard explores the ways in which traditional forms of religious biography and lives of princes and other secular figures were adapted to, and transformed by, the crises and revolutions of the period. He then considers the development of less traditional biographical types and analyses the emergence of a 'new biography, ' concerned essentially with individuality and with private as well as public life."--Jacket