Browse Items (42 total)

In 1586 Geffrey Whitney wrote “A Choice of Emblemes, and Other Devises: For the Moste Parte Gathered out of Sundrie Writers, Englished and Moralized, and Divers Newly Devised” to collect in one place the common fables of the day, complete with…

“The Historie of the World” or more commonly called “The naturall historie of C. Plinius Secundus” was the encyclopedia of its day, chronicling everything from why purple was considered a royal color, to various folklore of the time. This focus on…

“A Short View of Tragedy: It’s Original, Excellency, and Corruption” by Thomas Rymer is a short book that focuses on the praises, but more than that the criticisms, of Shakespeare’s “Othello”. Published in 1692 – 88 years after Shakespeare’s famous…

In this emblem book, different stories or concepts are used to represent apparently common sense ideas. The image depicted above represents one such story, called “Aethiopem lavare,” in which it describes the idea of something that is impossible by…

In 1635, “Sylva Sylvarum” or “A Naturall Historie” by Francis Bacon was published in London, nine years after his death. Widely considered a major player in the scientific arena during his life, Bacon uses this text as a collection of his thoughts…

NOTE: I inadvertently deleted the photos I took of the book during our in-class meeting at the library, thinking they were of another text that I didn't plan on using. By the time I realized my error, it was too late to request an appointment at the…

Geffrey Whitney’s compilation of fables includes a story in which a group of several white men attempt to turn a black man’s skin white. Despite their efforts, the men are unsuccessful and the man’s “hue” remains the same. The interaction between…

Thomas Rymer wrote "A Short View of Tragedy" in 1693, nearly eighty years after Shakespeare's death. The author's work is less of a "short view" and much more of a hefty critique of all of English theater. Rymer argues that society should return to…

Thomas Rymer (1641- 1713), a renowned English literary critic of his time, published A Short View of Tragedy in 1693 with the aim of criticizing the Shakespearean play, Othello. Regarded as “one of the most infamous books in the history of English…

The above image is taken from Belgian editor and publisher, Theodor de Bry’s America, Part VI. Part VI is one of the six volumes (as part of the Les Grands Voyages, or “The Discovery of America) that Theodor de Bry had published before his death as a…