Bound to Read

Language: English

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press, US, 2013

0812245075 / 9780812245073

  • Hardcover
  • New
See all details

Seller: Rarewaves USA, HEBRON, KY, U.S.A.Rarewaves USA

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since June 10, 2025

Hardcover

Condition: New

£ 66.31

 Free Shipping 
Ships within U.S.A.

Quantity: Over 20 available

Add to basket
Free 30-day returns

Item description from seller

Concealed in rows of carefully restored volumes in rare book libraries is a history of the patterns of book collecting and compilation that shaped the literature of the English Renaissance. In this early period of print, before the introduction of commercial binding, most published literary texts did not stand on shelves in discrete, standardized units. They were issued in loose sheets or temporarily stitched-leaving it to the purchaser or retailer to collect, configure, and bind them. In Bound to Read, Jeffrey Todd Knight excavates this culture of compilation-of binding and mixing texts, authors, and genres into single volumes-and sheds light on a practice that not only was pervasive but also defined the period's very ways of writing and thinking. Through a combination of archival research and literary criticism, Knight shows how Renaissance conceptions of imaginative writing were inextricable from the material assembly of texts. While scholars have long identified an early modern tendency to borrow and redeploy texts, Bound to Read reveals that these strategies of imitation and appropriation were rooted in concrete ways of engaging with books. Knight uncovers surprising juxtapositions such as handwritten sonnets collected with established poetry in print and literary masterpieces bound with liturgical texts and pamphlets. By examining works by Shakespeare, Spenser, Montaigne, and others, he dispels the notion of literary texts as static or closed, and instead demonstrates how the unsettled conventions of early print culture fostered an idea of books as interactive and malleable. Though firmly rooted in Renaissance culture, Knight's carefully calibrated arguments also push forward to the digital present-engaging with the modern library archives where these works were rebound and remade, and showing how the custodianship of literary artifacts shapes our canons, chronologies, and contemporary interpretative practices.…

Seller Inventory # LU-9780812245073

Title
Bound to Read
Author
Jeffrey Todd Knight
Publisher
University of Pennsylvania Press, US
Publication year
2013
Condition
New
Binding
Hardback
Language
English
ISBN 10
0812245075
ISBN 13
9780812245073

Rarewaves USA

HEBRON, KY, U.S.A.

5-star seller

AbeBooks seller since June 10, 2025

Shipping rates within U.S.A.

Item10 to 13 business days10 to 13 business days
First item£ 0.00£ 0.00
Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.

Payment methods

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay

Seller's business information

Rarewaves USA

10100 West Sample Road, Ste 101
Coral Springs, FL U.S.A. 33065