Did the invention of movable type change the way that the word was perceived in the early modern period? In his groundbreaking essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," the cultural critic Walter Benjamin argued that reproduction drains the image of its aura, by which he means the authority that a work of art obtains from its singularity and its embeddedness in a particular context. The central question in The Aura of the Word in the Early Age of Print (1450-1600) is whether the dissemination of text through print had a similar effect on the status of the word in the early modern period. In this volume, contributors from a variety of fields look at manifestations of the early modern word (in English, French, Latin, Dutch, German and Yiddish) as entities whose significance derived not simply from their semantic meaning but also from their relationship to their material support, to the physical context in which they are located and to the act of writing itself. Rather than viewing printed text as functional and lacking in materiality, contributors focus on how the placement of a text could affect its meaning and significance. The essays also consider the continued vitality of pre-printing-press kinds of text such as the illuminated manuscript; and how new practices, such as the veneration of handwriting, sprung up in the wake of the invention of movable type.

Did the invention of movable type change the way that the word was perceived in the early modern period? In his groundbreaking essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," the cultural critic Walter Benjamin argued that reproduction drains the image of its aura, by which he means the authority that a work of art obtains from its singularity and its embeddedness in a particular context. The central question in The Aura of the Word in the Early Age of Print (1450-1600) is whether the dissemination of text through print had a similar effect on the status of the word in the early modern period. In this volume, contributors from a variety of fields look at manifestations of the early modern word (in English, French, Latin, Dutch, German and Yiddish) as entities whose significance derived not simply from their semantic meaning but also from their relationship to their material support, to the physical context in which they are located and to the act of writing itself. Rather than viewing printed text as functional and lacking in materiality, contributors focus on how the placement of a text could affect its meaning and significance. The essays also consider the continued vitality of pre-printing-press kinds of text such as the illuminated manuscript; and how new practices, such as the veneration of handwriting, sprung up in the wake of the invention of movable type.

"Did the invention of movable type change the way that the word was perceived in the early modern period? In his groundbreaking essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction," the cultural critic Walter Benjamin argued that reproduction drains the image of its aura, by which he means the authority that a work of art obtains from its singularity and its embeddedness in a particular context. The central question in The Aura of the Word in the Early Age of Print (1450-1600) is whether the dissemination of text through print had a similar effect on the status of the word in the early modern period. In this volume, contributors from a variety of fields look at manifestations of the early modern word (in English, French, Latin, Dutch, German and Yiddish) as entities whose significance derived not simply from their semantic meaning but also from their relationship to their material support, to the physical context in which they are located and to the act of writing itself. Rather than viewing printed text as functional and lacking in materiality, contributors focus on how the placement of a text could affect its meaning and significance. The essays also consider the continued vitality of pre-printing-press kinds of text such as the illuminated manuscript; and how new practices, such as the veneration of handwriting, sprung up in the wake of the invention of movable type."--Provided by publisher.

It has become increasingly apparent to early modern religious, political, cultural and book-historians that translations provide badly neglected but unique and invaluable insights into the processes of cultural change and exchange. This volume provides a wealth of precious insights into the whole process of translation. The articles shed invaluable light on early modern scholarly practices and careers, cultural exchange and relations, the book trade, and the religious politics of the Dutch Republic. They also make quite clear that the Dutch translation of English Puritan works, and the ways in which this was carried out, are absolutely crucial to understanding the origins, nature and development of the Dutch Further Reformation.

Performative literary culture emerged as a set of practices that shaped production and distribution of learning in late medieval and early modern Western Europe, both in Latin and the vernacular. Performative literary culture encompasses the plays, songs, and poetry performed for live audiences in (semi-)public spaces and the organizations championing performative literature through meetings and events. These organizations included chambers of rhetoric, confraternities of the Puy, joyous companies, guilds of Meistersingers, the Consistory of Joyful Knowledge, academies, companies of the Basoche and Inns of Court, and the institutions or people organizing the Spanish justas. Written by a team of experts, the contributions in this book explore how performative literary cultures shaped the exchange of public learning, knowledge, and ideas between the oral, theatrical, and literary spheres. Contributors include: Francisco J. Álvarez, Adrian Armstrong, Gabriele Ball , Anita Boele, Cynthia J. Brown, Susanna de Beer, Hilde de Ridder-Symoens, Ignacio García Aguilar, Laura Kendrick, Samuel Mareel, Inmaculada Osuna, Bart Ramakers, Dylan Reid, Catrien Santing, Susie Speakman Sutch, and Arjan van Dixhoorn.

"An examination of monument-making in the Dutch Republic during the early modern period, during which this form first manifested and flourished"--