Plus que des livres, un jeu ! En 1635, George Wither publie ses recueils d’emblèmes – des gravures allégoriques commentées – conçus comme une loterie. Analyse d’un document méconnu qui révèle les profondes mutations de l’Angleterre du XVIIe siècle.
In 1635, George Wither, the satirist, psalmist, regular inmate at the Marshalsea, former favourite of James I and self-appointed « Remembrancer », arranged for the printing of his Collection of Emblemes, Ancient and Moderne. Though loathed by critics, this book is a highly remarkable iteration of the genre. Wither used pre-existing engravings, re-interpreted the pictorial motifs, and used the resulting emblems as lots in an interactive game appended to the book. Le Duff situates Wither’s emblem book in the context of early Stuart England on the eve of the Civil War. He explores the political, moral, and religious views expressed both in its verse and its structure, and highlights the book’s original take on a changing literary genre.
Wither may not have been a king among bards, but he was a tireless critic of his own time, perhaps the most tumultuous in British history. If nothing else, his Emblemes paint a multi-layered picture of a fascinating period, on that is well worth exploring.
Note on the pagination in A Collection of Emblemes
General introduction
Illustrations
Chapter I – “Though, Mee, this Age despise”: Historical and Bibliographical Contextualisation of Wither’s A Collection of Emblemes
Chapter II – “[A Booke] conceitedly composed”: The Composition of A Collection of Emblemes and the Question of Patronage
Chapter III – “Emblemes […] Quickened with Metricall Illustrations”: Inter-semiotic relations in A Collection of Emblemes
Chapter IV – “No choice Emblematist”: Wither’s Denigration, Appropriation, and Repurposing of the Primary Source Material
Chapter V – “Thy Heart […] to those Knowledges aspires, / Which every prudent Soule desires”: Wither’s Voices in A Collection of Emblemes
Chapter VI – “Thou mayst have hopes, and, God will grant them too”: Wither’s Collection of Emblemes and Early Stuart Religion
Chapter VII – “This contayneth nought/ Which (in proper sense) concerneth ought, / The present-Age”: A Collection of Emblemes as Political and Social Commentary?
Chapter VIII – “Ev’ry Gamester winneth by the Sport”: Wither’s Lottery and the Rhetorical Possibilities of Play
General conclusion
Bibliography
Index of early modern authors cited
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