Annotated Bibliography
1. Allestree, Richard. The Ladies Calling in Two Parts / by the Author of The whole Duty of Man, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety, and The Gentlemans Calling. Oxford : Printed at the Theater, 1673. Duke University Libraries, Durham, NC. 6 April 2006 <http://ets.umdl.umich.edu/e/eebo/>.
This book describes “the ladies calling,” specifically discussing the topics of modesty, meekness, compassion, affability, and piety and breaking women down into three categories: virgins, wives, and widows.
2. Alsop, Bernard. "Ten Severall Orders to Be Put in Execution by the Lord Mayor and Alderman of London." 1647. Early English Books Online. Duke University, Durham. 07 Apr. 2006.
This document is important in understanding regulation of consumption in early modern England. It highlights the legal issues concerned with the sale and circulation of food.
3. Arden of Faversham. 1592.
This is a play in the genre of tragedy about a man named Arden whose life is plotted against by the other characters because each will benefit from his death. Such characters include his wife, his servant, and some poor farmers angered by the changing hands of the lands of the Abby of Faversham from the Lord Duke of Somerset to Arden, leaving them without a means to support their families.
4. Bellamy, Daniel. The Young Ladies Miscellany. (1687). LION. Cambridge: Chadwyck-Healey, 1992.
This is a collection of poems written for the young women of Mrs. Bellamy's School in London to enjoy and use for personal improvement. Many of the poems are about courtship and the ways in which a young lady ought to go about interacting with men in order to improve her chances of marriage.
5. Brathwaite, Richard. The English gentlewoman, drawne out to full body: expressing, what habilliments doe best attire her, what ornaments doe best adorne her, what complements doe best accomplish her. London: Printed by B. Alsop and T. Fauucet, 1631.
This book describes the role of a gentlewoman in seventeenth century England, specifically highlighting the expectation of chastity.
6. Braun, Georg. Civitates Orbis Terrarum. Coloniæ Agrippinæ : Apud Bertramum Bochholtz sumptibus auctorum, Vol 5. Plate 1. 1599.
Civitates Orbis Terrarum is a city atlas published in volumes from 1572-1617. It contains maps of cities worldwide and innumerable sketching's and pictures from the world.
7. Bristol, Michael. Everyday Custom and Popular Culture. A Companion to Renaissance Drama. Ed. Arthur F. Kinney. Oxford, 2004. 121-134.
This essay describes everday custom and popular culture in early modern England. Much of it coincides with Peter Burke's model of a cultural transformation in England from 1500-1800, as Bristol describes popular culture as the culture of those in the "middling sort" and below.
8. Clark, Ira. Comedy, Youth, Manhood in Early Modern England. Newark: University of Delaware Press. 2003.
This text highlights the portrayal of youth in works of Early Modern English literature. Its emphasis is on boys and young men and their journey into manhood through education, courtship, marriage, and dueling.
9. Coward, Barry, ed. A Companion to Stuart Britain. Malden: Blackwell Publishers Ltd., 2003.
This volume of the Blackwell Companions to British History contains a variety of scholarly essays that deal with Stuart Britain. The works include such titles as "Gender Relations," "Economic and Urban Development," and "Literature and History," among others.
10. Davidson, Alan. "The Natural History of British Cookery Books." British Cookery Books (1988): 98-105.
This book tells the story of the history of the guide book in Early Modern England. It provides great detail in describing the history and background of Hannah Wooley, one of the first females to publish a guide book.
11. Dawson, Thomas. The Good Housewife's Jewel. London: Southover P, 1996.
This guide book contains many recipes and instructions for the housewife. The ingredients and recipes indicate that this book was intended for upperclass housewives.
12. Dekker, Thomas. The Shoemaker's Holiday. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1990.
The first edition of Dekker's play is thought to have been written circa 1599. It describes a story in which a shoemaker miraculously rises from his middle class merchant status to the top of the social ladder as Lord Mayor.
13. Deloney, Thomas. Jack of Newbury. c.1597.
This short novel written circa 1597 by Thomas Deloney follows the life of Jack of Newbury, a wealthy clothier in England who worked his way up from the laboring class. In the end, he employs some five hundred poor cloth workers.
14. Drummond, J.C. The Englishman's Food: A History of Five Centuries of English Diet. London: Pimlico, 1994.
Drummond's novel is a great source of the role of food in early modern England. He divides the book by century and social class, which helps the reader to understand how social class dictated consumption.
15. Estabrook, Carl B. Urbane and Rustic England. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998.
Estabrook compiles a wealth of information on urban and rural spaces in England in the years 1660-1780. Although the majority of its content is past the time of Renaissance England, it still provides some useful examples for understanding such topics that fit the time period such as apprenticeships.
16. Fitzherbert, John. The Book of Husbandry. London: imprinted at London in Fletestrete in the house of Thomas Berthelet, nere to the condite at the sygne of Lucrece, 1533.
This book describes the role of the husband, as well as, the role of the wife in 16th century England.
17. Harris, Tim. Problematizing Popular Culture. Popular Culture in England 1500-1850. Ed. Tim Harris. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995. 1-27 and 216-222.
In this essay, Harris "problematizes" popular culture as he describes and challenges Peter Burke's model of cultural transformation in England from 1500-1800.
18. Harrison, William. The Description of England: The Classic Contemporary Account of Tudor Social Life. Washington DC and New York: The Flogger Shakespeare Library and Dover Publications, INC. 1994.
Harrison provides an extensively detailed account of life in Tudor England. A range of topics are covered by Harrison including issues of class, descriptions of the environment, animals, and buildings, and discussion of the education and laws.
19. Herrick, Robert. "The Hock-cart." 1648.
Herrick's poem provides a view of the life of the laborers juxtaposed with the life of the lords in the countryside by detailing the journey of the hock-cart carrying the final harvest of the season through the country.
20. Hobby, Elaine. Virtue of Necessity: English Women's Writing 1649-88. London: Virago Press Limited, 1988.
In this book Hobby describes the family, education, and religion of women living in England from 1649-88. She goes on to claim that despite the subordinate position occupied by women in all of these areas, women still managed to write and publish due to a 'virtue of necessity.'
21. Hull, Suzanne. Women according to men : the world of Tudor-Stuart women. Walmut Creek: AltaMira Press, 1996.
This book describes what life was like for women living in England from 1525-1675.
22. Janeway, James. A Token for Children. Bristol: Printed by Felix Farley, 1749.
This book from 1749 is a collection of stories written about children living in the 16th and 17th centuries. Most of the stories are about 'good' children whose faith in God is strong and it is interesting that many of the children die before their teenage years and each is glorified for his or her devoutness on the deathbed.
23. Kegl, Rosemary. The Rhetoric of Concealment: Figuring Gender and Class in Renaissance Literature. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1994.
In this book, Kegl argues against Joan Kelly's claim that women did not have a Renaissance and poses the idea that women did have a Renaissance that was concealed in the Rhetoric of the time.
24. Kelly, Joan. "Did Women Have a Renaissance?" Women, History, and Theory. Ed. Joan Kelly. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press, 1984. 19-50.
This essay from the 1970's questions whether or not women had a Renaissance. Kelly argues that women actually had more power and rights under the medieval feudal system than they did under the early modern state.
25. Life in Elizabethan England: A Compendium of Common Knowledge. 4 July 2004. 8 April 2006. <http://renaissance.dm.net/compendium/index.html>.
This website gives an overview of the general culture and customs of the time period between 1558 and 1603. Topics covered include pastimes, money, food, occupations, master/servant relations, holidays, and many others.
26. Markham, Gervase. The English Housewife. Ed. Michael R. Best. Montreal & Kingston, London, Buffalo: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1986.
An instruction book written for women in the early seventeenth century.
27. Middleton, Thomas. A Chaste Maid in Cheapside. 1630.
Middleton’s play tells a story about an Elizabethan household. It is a prime example of Domestic Comedy theater. Because it is about a household, the play shed light on the culinary customs and cultural ideals held in London during the Renaissance.
28. Rowe, AL. The Elizabethan Renaissance: The Life of the Society. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1971.
Rowe provides a discussion of the lower to middle classes of England including their relationship to food and sanitation. The book also delves into issues of class relations and even goes into witchcraft and astrology.
29. Sharp, Buchanan. In Contempt of All Authority: Rural Artisans and Riot in the West of England, 1586-1660. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press. 1980.
Sharp discusses the food riots of England that resulted from the seasonal shortages caused by enclosures and inclimate weather as well as how the crown responded to those revolts. In addition Sharp pay close attention to the rural community of England and their role in the production of food and consequently their role in the riots when they are supplying other areas of England with the products they cultivate.
30. Sharpe, J.A. Early Modern England: A Social History 1550-1760. New York: Arnold. 1997.
Sharpe gives a detailed look at aspects of life in Renaissance England, from the family unit, to social order, to religion and education. The author examines the Renaissance through a historical lens and the majority of the book is a look at documented events and their effects on the people and practices of the time.
31. Sim, Alison. Food and Feast in Tudor England. London: Sutton, 1998.
This book gives a comprehensive overview of food during the Renaissance in London, England. A detailed description of the historical background, significance, and relation to the socioeconomic status of the consumers of several foods are given.
32. Thirsk, Joan. The Rural Economy of England: Collected Essays. London: The Hambledon Press, 1984.
Thirsk provides an extensive account and analysis of the English countryside from 1500-1700. Topics covered by Thirsk range from Common Fields to Stocking Knitting to Mutual Aid.
33. Underdown, David. Revel, Riot, and Rebellion: Popular Politics and Culture in England 1603-1660. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985.
This study of England between the years 1603-1660 deals with the culture of social unrest and rebellion that took place because of a variety of factors including food shortages, poverty, and overpopulation. It gives some literary context, with quotes from the time period showing just how the people felt about the situations in which they lived.
34. W., A. A Book of Cookrye. 1st ed. London: Edward Allde, 1584.
This guide book is composed of recipes aimed at readers of the upperclass.
35. Wall, Wendy. Staging Domesticity: Household Work and English Identity in Early Modern England. United Kingdom: Cambridge UP, 2002.
Wall gives a detailed description of the aspects of an English household in the Rennaisance. She gives a throrough account of the importance of guide books and the genre of theater "domestic tragedy".
36. Westmorland, Mildmay Fane, Earl of. The poetry of Mildmay Fane, Second Earl of Westmorland Ed. Tom Cain. New York: Manchester University Press. 2001.
This collection of poetry written by Mildmay Fane is accompanied with a biography and portrait of Mildmay. Tom Cain published the poetry of Mildmay Fane after it was recently discovered. The poetry provides insight into the culture and occurrences of England through the viewpoint of an aristocratic, presumably wealthy land owner.
37.Williams, Raymond. The Country And The City. New York: Oxford University Press, 1973.
For many literary scholars that study the country and the city this book is regarded as a sort of “bible.” Williams approaches the relationship between the country and the city as an “objective problem” and “as a matter of social, literary and intellectual history.”
38. Wooley, Hannah. The Quenne-Like Closet or Rich Cabinet. London, 1670.
Wooley's household guide provides recipes and instructions in being the ideal housewife of early modern England.