The Practical Renaissance : Information Culture and the Quest for Knowledge in Early Modern England, 1500-1640

What sort of information did people in early modern England seek? In The Practical Renaissance Donna Seger explores the diffusion and reception of prescriptive publications over the 16th and 17th centuries. Published in an age of dynamic religious and political change, these texts demonstrate the universal desire for health and wealth, a fortified body and an orderly household. Showing how classical and continental information had been "Englished" over time, this book shows how new publications supplanted these traditional ideas with more empirical and authoritative knowledge. Published in an age of dynamic religious and political change, these texts, which include plague tracts, husbandry handbooks, printed recipe books, and navigation manuals, demonstrate the universal desire for health and wealth, a fortified body and an orderly household. Divided into three parts, the opening chapters explore factors which affected the diffusion of practical knowledge via prescriptive texts. Part two focuses on the interaction between new discoveries and traditional authority, and the final section considers debates in the 'medical marketplace', the term 'knowledge-mongerer' and the commodification of knowledge at this time. A thorough exploration into the popular and pragmatic expressions of the period, The Practical Renaissance offers a new window into the movement in which knowledge and information became power. "What sort of information did people in early modern England seek? In The Practical Renaissance Donna Seger explores the diffusion and reception of prescriptive publications over the 16th and 17th centuries. Published in an age of dynamic religious and political change, these texts demonstrate the universal desire for health and wealth, a fortified body and an orderly household. With an emphasis not only on content, but also the process by which classical and continental information was 'Englished', this book shows how it was supplanted by more empirical and authoritative knowledge. Published in an age of dynamic religious and political change, these texts, which include plague tracts, husbandry handbooks, printed recipe books, and navigation manuals, demonstrate the universal desire for health and wealth, a fortified body and an orderly household. Divided into three parts, the opening chapters explore factors which affected the diffusion of practical knowledge via prescriptive texts. Part two focuses on the interaction between new discoveries and traditional authority, and the final section considers debates in the 'medical marketplace', the term 'knowledge-mongerer' and the commodification of knowledge at this time. A thorough exploration into the popular and pragmatic expressions of the period, The Practical Renaissance offers a new window into the movement in which knowledge and information became power"-- Provided by publisher. Cover Halftitle page Title page Copyright page Epigraph Dedication CONTENTS FIGURES ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONVENTIONS Introduction: Jewels Abound 1 Regimens and Rules: The Rudiments of Health and Husbandry Self-Preservation in its Setting English Medical Regimens 1528–1640 How to Live a Wholesome Life Seeds of Discretion 2 Measure for Measure: Mensuration and Mathematics Taking Stock From Enumeration to Calculation Cosmographical Connections 3 Elizabethan Alterations: Continuity and Crisis The Persistent Plague, the New Pox, and the Indian Weed Profitable Plants The Crisis of the 1590s Busy Housewives 4 Maritime Matters Instruments and Invention After the Armada Planning Ahead 5 Public Discourses; Practical Concerns The Plague and Public Health Mercantile Medicine The Last Herbals Native Soil 6 The Knowledge-Mongers NOTES SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Texts Secondary Texts INDEX Introduction: Jewels Abound -- Part I (1500-1557): Diffusion -- Chapter 1: Regimens and -- Rules: The Rudiments of Health and Husbandry -- Chapter 2: Mathematics and -- Mensuration -- Part II (1558-1603): Discovery -- Chapter 3: Elizabethan Exploration and Experimentation: What's New -- a. -- Alchemy Assimilated -- b. New Lands, New Crops, New Cures, New Trees, New Foods -- c. -- Husbandry and Huswifery -- Chapter 4: The -- Navigators -- Part III: (1604-1640): Debate -- Chapter 5. The Plague and Public Health in Early Stuart London -- Chapter 6: The Knowledge-Mongers -- a. -- Gervase -- Markham and the Way to Get Wealth -- b. -- Ready Reckoning and Reference -- Bibliography -- Index