abstract: The rise of print book culture in sixteenth-century England had profound effects on understandings of identity that are reflected in the prose, poetry, and drama of the age. Drawing on assemblage and actor-network theory, this dissertation argues that models of identity constructed in relation to books in Renaissance England are neither static nor self-contained, arising instead out of a collaborative engagement with books as physical objects that tap into historically specific cultural discourses. Renaissance representations of book usage blur the boundary between human beings and their books, both as textual carriers and as physical artifacts. The first chapter outlines the relationship between book history and assemblage theory to examine how books contribute to the assembly of the human subject in different ways for readers, owners, and authors and to lay a theoretical and historical foundation for reading cultural assemblages in later chapters. The second chapter studies how authors and sometimes printers attempt as makers of books to construct public identities through them. The chapter focuses on how Edmund Spenser’s Shepheardes Calender and Isabella Whitney’s poetry anthologies play with texts and paratexts in order to create the illusion of control over the resulting authorial persona, even while acknowledging that the book itself is a deterritorialized element of their own identities with particular agencies of its own. The third chapter investigates how Renaissance drama represents human beings using books to curate their identity assemblages both publicly and inwardly, particularly as depicted in the work of Thomas Kyd, William Shakespeare, and the author of Arden of Faversham. The successes and failures of these assemblages on the stage reflect anxieties about the book as an agentive object in an assembled identity. The fourth chapter examines the prose work of Philip Sidney, Roger Ascham, and Fulke Greville, considering the obsession with travel books and writing as a reflection of wider notions about the permeability and possible contamination by foreign influences of the self constructed through books and writings related to travel. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2015

Esta dissertação se propõe a analisar a trajetória dos romances ingleses no Rio de Janeiro nas três primeiras décadas do século XIX. Para tanto, utilizamos os documentos de requisição de liberação de livros da Mesa do Desembargo do Paço com a finalidade de apontar os responsáveis pela importação dessas obras literárias, bem como indicar quais romances ingleses tinham maior circulação. Visando esboçar o percurso dos romances, examinamos os anúncios de compra, venda, aluguel e leilão de dois periódicos importantes: a Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro (1808 1821) e o Diário do Rio de Janeiro (1821 1831). / The purpose of this dissertation is to analyse the circulation of English novels in Rio de Janeiro in the first three decades of the nineteenth century. The documents of the Mesa do Desembargo do Paço (the institution responsible for the censorship and liberation of books) in Rio de Janeiro will be used in order to bring light to the booksellers who were responsible for the importation of English novels as well as to highlight which of these novels were bestsellers. For an overview of the trade of English novels in Rio de Janeiro, the advertisements of two of the most important newspapers of the beginning of the nineteenth century will be taken into account: the Gazeta do Rio de Janeiro (1808 1821) and the Diário do Rio de Janeiro (1821 1831)

Cette thèse, qui a pris pour point de départ l’inventaire des recueils collectifs de poésies fourni par le bibliographe Frédéric Lachèvre, vise à établir le rôle qu’ont joué les recueils poétiques polygraphiques dans la publication, la pratique et la réception de la poésie au XVIIe siècle.Au XVIIe siècle, en effet, les recueils collectifs deviennent le principal mode de publication imprimée de pièces poétiques inédites. Ces imprimés n’ont jusqu’à présent fait l’objet d’aucune analyse systématique suivie. Pour rendre compte à la fois des recueils, de leur évolution entre 1597 et 1671 et des pièces qu’ils publient, ce travail utilise une approche double.D’une part, il propose une typologie des recueils en général qui permet une étude de la place et du rôle des recueils collectifs de poésies parmi les publications du temps.D’autre part, à l’aide d’une base de données recensant plus de 10 000 pièces, cette thèse analyse les poèmes publiés dans les recueils collectifs de poésies selon plusieurs critères : forme, genre, composition, thème. L’exploitation du contenu de ces recueils par l’outil numérique permet de rendre compte de diverses évolutions et d’isoler les pièces les plus représentatives de certaines périodes.Cette étude contribue à notre connaissance de la poésie entre 1597 et 1671 parce qu’elle prend en considération tous les auteurs publiés et le mode de publication majeur de la poésie à l’époque : le recueil collectif. Dans une perspective diachronique, elle affine notre connaissance des différents courants poétiques qui se succèdent au cours de cette époque. Dans une perspective synchronique, en exploitant la base de données, elle entreprend de dégager les principaux traits stylistiques et métriques caractérisant les pièces d’une même période. Enfin, croisant l’histoire du livre et l’analyse sociocritique, ce travail s’intéresse au recueil en tant qu’objet commercial et aux usages que libraires, auteurs et lecteurs en font. / This study examines poetry collections printed in France between 1597 and 1671. During this period, poetry is not published as the work of an author, but integrated into collections, which unite the works of various authors. While Frédéric Lachèvre has alerted us to the importance of the phenomenon through his bibliography (Bibliographie des recueils collectifs publiés de 1597 à 1700), a systematic study on 17th century poetry collections is still missing. How did these collections influence the way poetry was written, read and published? To answer this question, this study uses a two-fold approach.I carve out a typology of 17th century text collections with the aim of determining their importance in the editorial practice of the time. A database containing information on 10 000 poems, developed specifically for this study, enables us to analyse these texts following various criteria (poetic form, metre, subject, composition) and further to identify the most typical pieces of certain decades.Instead of focusing on individual poets, this study centres around the prevailing way of publishing poetry in 17th century France. Thanks to this general approach it is able to identify different poetical and aesthetical movements of the time. Moreover, with the help of the database, I can isolate the stylistic characteristics that identify poems composed during the same period. This study finally considers 17th century poetry collections as an historical and commercial object. By taking into account studies on book history and the socio-cultural context, it discusses how these collections were composed, produced and read.

Otto Ege cut apart hundreds of medieval manuscripts during the first half of the twentieth century, claiming to do so to provide wider access to them. His destruction resulted in the loss of provenance, material history, and context of these manuscripts. Moreover, he made mistakes when identifying and dating the manuscript leaves he cut, and the loss of the bindings and front matter of the manuscripts makes it difficult to correct these. Much of the research concerning Ege focuses on his identity as a biblioclast, yet even scholars who denounce his book-cutting admit he allowed for places and people to have access to these manuscripts that otherwise would not. In this thesis, I examine how place impacted not only Ege’s motivations to distribute medieval manuscript leaves, but how place further impacts the accessibility of these leaves to people of lower socio-economic status. By mapping the locations of Ege’s Fifty Original Leaves of Medieval Manuscripts portfolios against the percentage of the population with college degrees, I make the argument that Ege’s portfolios are not as accessible to underrepresented populations as they could be, because most of these portfolios are located at university special collections and archives. I draw on social and geographic theory to show that non-college educated people are less likely to visit a college campus than those who attended college. I then explore current scholarship in archives and special collections to show the importance of public outreach programs and how bridging the gap between university archives and special collections and public libraries or other community institutions can make Ege’s portfolios more accessible to a broader audience. I conclude that while Ege did irreparable damage to the historical value of these medieval manuscript leaves, they do indeed still have value in their ability to allow more people to learn from and appreciate them. Ege’s vision of democratizing medieval book history may not have been perfect, but with the damage done, we can move in a more positive direction so as not to waste the potential benefits of these portfolios.

The focus of this thesis is to look at Geoff John's Justice League in the "New 52" universe. More specifically, the research concentrates on the relationship of the members of DC Comics "Trinity," Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The three heroes have a special relationship that spans over 75 years, and now, with the "New 52," there is an opportunity to examine the relationship from its beginning to its end in the modern era of comic book history. The scope of this project will span eight graphic novels and five years of storytelling. To properly evaluate the relationship of "The Trinity" this thesis will look at research on friendship, interpersonal relationships, and management styles, all through the lens of a thorough character study on each hero. In the end, "The Trinity" will grow from uneasy allies to friends to family. They will solidify their relationship through fighting for their lives, making mistakes together, and ultimately saying goodbye to each other. This thesis will find their relationship is unique amongst comic book characters and should be considered the archetype for all the superhero teams that would come after their creation. Moving forward, to build upon this research one should take the analysis approach followed in this thesis and apply it to either the "Rebirth" version of the Justice League or the 2017 Justice League film which also will feature a version of "The Trinity"

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine was arguably the most important and widely published literary magazine of the nineteenth century. Its readership extended from Britain to America, shaping literary tastes across the Anglophone literary marketplace. BEM wrote two reviews of Nathaniel Hawthorne's fiction during the author's most prolific years. The first was published in 1847 and contained a lengthy reflection of the state of American literature that prefaced its review of Mosses from an Old ManseM. In 1855, BEM reviewed Hawthorne's novels. The language of these reviews encouraged BEM's transatlantic readership to interpret Hawthorne in a very particular light: a dark, intense, and deeply psychological Hawthorne. In other words, BEM promoted a version of Hawthorne that would ultimately stick and become the standard Hawthorne adopted by twentieth-century historians of the "American Renaissance." I argue that BEM's reviews reveal a relationship with American literature predisposed to appreciate a dark, symbolic, gothic literature, and that Hawthorne, like Irving before him, succeeded in becoming one of the greatest writers of mid-nineteenth-century American literature because he was able to appeal to and please a transatlantic, and particularly a British, audience. By transcending geographic boundaries, at least in BEM's reviews, Hawthorne was ironically identified as an iconic "American" writer.

Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine was arguably the most important and widely published literary magazine of the nineteenth century. Its readership extended from Britain to America, shaping literary tastes across the Anglophone literary marketplace. BEM wrote two reviews of Nathaniel Hawthornes fiction during the authors most prolific years. The first was published in 1847 and contained a lengthy reflection of the state of American literature that prefaced its review of Mosses from an Old Manse. In 1855, BEM reviewed Hawthornes novels. The language of these reviews encouraged BEMs transatlantic readership to interpret Hawthorne in a very particular light: a dark, intense, and deeply psychological Hawthorne. In other words, BEM promoted a version of Hawthorne that would ultimately stick and become the standard Hawthorne adopted by twentieth-century historians of the œAmerican Renaissance. I argue that BEMs reviews reveal a relationship with American literature predisposed to appreciate a dark, symbolic, gothic literature, and that Hawthorne, like Irving before him, succeeded in becoming one of the greatest writers of mid-nineteenth-century American literature because he was able to appeal to and please a transatlantic, and particularly a British, audience. By transcending geographic boundaries, at least in BEMs reviews, Hawthorne was ironically identified as an iconic œAmerican writer.

This thesis seeks to examine the nature of the intertwined networks of print, patronage and religion that existed within and across England and Scotland between 1580 and 1604, through the career of the English printer Robert Waldegrave. Multifaceted and complex, Waldegrave’s career spanned two countries, four decades and numerous controversies. To date scholars have engaged in a teleological narrative of his career, culminating in his involvement with the Marprelate press between April 1588/9. This focus on Waldegrave as a religious radical has coloured accounts of his English business and resulted in his Scottish career being disregarded by many. This thesis adds to the growing body of scholarship concerning printers and the print trade, illustrating the varied role Waldegrave played, both in relation to the texts he produced and within a broader trans-national context of print There are three major thematic areas of enquiry; whether Waldegrave’s characterization by contemporary commentators and subsequent scholars as a Puritan printer is accurate; what his career in Scotland between 1590 and 1603 reveals about the Scottish print trade, and finally the role and significance of the various networks of print, patronage and religion within which he operated in regards to his own career as well as in the broader context of early modern religious and commercial printing. Challenging the reductive interpretation of Waldegrave’s life and career, this thesis places the Marprelate episode within the wider framework of his English and Scottish careers, enabling traditional assumptions about his motivation and autonomy to be questioned and reevaluated. It will be shown that the accepted image of Waldegrave as a committed Puritan printer, developed and disseminated by his representation within the Marprelate tracts was actually a misrepresentation of his position and that the reality was far more nuanced. His choices were informed by commercial concerns and the various needs of the networks of print, patronage and religion within which he worked, which often limited his ability to promote the religious beliefs he held. The study of Waldegrave and his English contemporaries within the Scottish print trade expands our knowledge of the relationship between the print trades of England and Scotland and highlights how intertwined they were during this period. Waldegrave’s Scottish career, and the significance of his complicated relationship with his royal patron, James VI will be established and the wider impact and significance of Waldegrave’s appointment as Royal printer demonstrated. As he worked as a minor jobbing printer, a fugitive on a clandestine press and as the Royal Printer in Scotland Waldegrave is one of a small number of stationers whose career was extremely varied. Through the study of Waldegrave’s unique and multifaceted career it is therefore possible to trace and analyse the complex networks within which he, and his fellow stationers operated during the late-sixteenth century.

Pretende-se analisar a publicação de impressos de grupos anarquistas no período inicial do movimento operário de Buenos Aires. Durante a formação das primeiras organizações operárias na cidade, a atividade editorial teve um papel central para estes grupos, cumprindo a função de propaganda e também de organização. Buscaremos estudar a esfera da edição, pesquisando quais assuntos e autores eram publicados, quais suportes eram adotados e quem eram os indivíduos que estavam à frente do trabalho de edição e da comercialização dos impressos, investigando quais eram os circuitos de venda e distribuição dos mesmos. Acreditamos que estas questões podem contribuir para a compreensão das estratégias adotadas por estes grupos para a propaganda de suas ideias, bem como a importância da atividade editorial para aglutinar militantes. Dessa forma, podemos entender o processo de desenvolvimento do anarquismo no movimento operário em Buenos Aires, problematizando a relação entre edição e política. / The objective is analyzing the publication of printed materials of anarchist groups in the initial period of the worker\'s movement in Buenos Aires. During the creation of the first worker\'s organizations in the city, the publishing activity had a major role for these groups, with the functions of propaganda and organization. We will study the editing field through a research on the subjects and the authors that were published, and also on the adopted media and on the people who were on the head of the editing work, trying to find out which were the selling and distribution networks. We believe that these matters can help us to understand the strategies chosen by these groups for promoting their ideas and the importance of the editing activity to get activists together. Thus, we can comprehend the development process of anarchism in the worker\'s movement in Buenos Aires by the relations between politics and publishing.

This dissertation examines the function of textual communities in England from the early Middle Ages until the early modern period, exploring the ways in which cultures and communities are formed through textual activities other than writing itself. I open by discussing the characteristics of a textual community in order to establish a new understanding of the term. I argue that a textual community is fundamentally based on activity carried out in books and that perceptions of linguistic distance stimulate this activity. Chapter 1 investigates Bede (c. 673–735) and his interest in multilingualism, coupled with his exploration of the boundaries between the written and spoken forms of English. Picking up on an element of Bede's work, I argue in Chapter 2 that Alfred (r. 871–899) and his grandson Æthelstan (r. 924/5–939) found new ways to make textuality the defining quality of the emerging West Saxon kingdom. In Chapter 3, I focus on the intralingual distance in the textual community surrounding the works of Ælfric (c. 950–1010) and Wulfstan (d. 1023). I also discuss the role of contemporary or near-contemporary manuscript use in forming a textual community at the intersection of ecclesiastical and political power. In Chapter 4, I examine the activities of a textual community in the West Midlands in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. By glossing Old English texts and rethinking English orthography, this textual community both renewed the work of Anglo-Saxon writers and enabled the activity I discuss in Chapter 5. Chapter 5 argues for a more constructive rationalization of the curatorial and editorial activities of Matthew Parker (1504–1575) than has been presented hitherto. I argue that Parker's cavalier methods of conserving and editing his books in fact represent responses to the textual models he found in those manuscripts. An appendix presents the text and translation of the preface to Parker's edition of Asser's Life of King Alfred. I close with a discussion of the production and use of books, followed by an illustration of the ongoing importance of textual community in England by highlighting the layers of use in a single manuscript (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Hatton 20) that links together the chapters of this dissertation.