Autobiography in Early Modern England

By Adam Smyth

How did individuals write about their lives before a modern tradition of diaries and autobiographies was established? Adam Smyth examines the kinds of texts that sixteenth- or seventeenth-century individuals produced to register their life, in the absence of these later, dominant templates. The book explores how readers responded to, and improvised with, four forms - the almanac, the financial account, the commonplace book and the parish register - to create written records of their lives. Early modern autobiography took place across these varied forms, often through a lengthy process of transmission and revision of written documents. This book brings a dynamic, surprising culture of life-writing to light, and will be of interest to anyone studying autobiography or early modern literature.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521761727
• ISBN13: 9780521761727
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 234 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"