Text, Paratext, Context: the Scribal and Print Publications of Tichborneâs Lament

Robert S. Miola

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Chapter 11 Text, Paratext, Context: the Scribal and Print Publications of Tichborneâs Lament

In: The Elizabethan Catholic Underground

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Robert S. Miola

Robert S. Miola
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 344â370

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004426412_013

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Abstract

Chidiock Tichborneâs famous Lament, âMy prime of youth is but a feast of caresâ, written three days before his execution for treason, 20 September 1586, circulated in over 45 manuscript versions and also in print. I am interested here in how various paratexts (headings, ascriptions, subscriptions, and proximate materials) and various contexts (the larger containing volume or collection) shape and reshape the meaning of the poem. Paratexts and contexts radically reconstitute the content and govern the reception of the text. In its various manuscript and print publications Tichborneâs La-ment appears as a moving Catholic witness, a statement of elegiac regret, a tragic soliloquy, a government document, a dolorous device of profane poetry, a traitorâs confession, an anonymous poetic posy, a delightful and anonymous musical lyric. Seen together, the differing presentations of the Lament offer a revealing case study in early modern reading, writing, and publishing.

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The Elizabethan Catholic Underground

Clandestine Printing and Scribal Subversion in the English Counter-Reformation

Series:Â Library of the Written Word, Volume: 140Â andÂ Library of the Written Word - The Handpress World, Volume: 140

Cover The Elizabethan Catholic Underground

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004426412

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 26 Jun 2025

Subjects
- History
  - Early Modern History
  - Book History
- Religious Studies
  - History of Religion

Front Matter

Part 1 Elizabethan Catholic Print Culture

Part 2 The Hybridity of Script and Print

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Chapter 11 Text, Paratext, Context: the Scribal and Print Publications of Tichborneâs Lament

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The Elizabethan Catholic Underground

Clandestine Printing and Scribal Subversion in the English Counter-Reformation

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Chapter 11 Text, Paratext, Context: the Scribal and Print Publications of Tichborneâs Lament