The Model of Poesy: 2013

The Model of Poesy is one of the most exciting literary discoveries of recent years. A manuscript treatise on poetics written by William Scott in 1599, at the end of the most revolutionary decade in English literary history, it includes rich discussions of the works of Sidney, Spenser, Shakespeare, and their contemporaries. Scott's work presents a powerful and coherent theoretical account of all aspects of poetics, from the nature of representation to the rules of versification, with a commitment to relating theory to contemporary practice. For Scott, any theory of literature must make sense not of the classics but of what English writers are doing now: Scott is at the same time the most scholarly and the most relevant of English Renaissance critics. In his groundbreaking Cambridge University Press edition, Gavin Alexander presents a text of The Model of Poesy framed by a detailed introduction and an extensive commentary, which together demonstrate the range and value of Scott's thought. This blog aims to supplement the edition.

Tuesday, 26 November 2013

beyond the seas

Scott has now crossed the Atlantic for what may be the second time (see his will, appendix 3, and discussion in the Introduction, xxvii-xxviii) and has been published in North America. Further details on the CUP sites in the US and Canada.

Sunday, 3 November 2013

reddendo

The edition was published in the UK on 10 October 2013 and will be available in the US in November 2013. The C.U.P. website includes some generous selections from the edition as well as hosting my original spelling edition of the unique manuscript of Scott's treatise. Follow the links on the right of this page.

Do let me know what you think of Scott and of the edition, and please do point out any errors, however small!