For the third edition of this volume a considerable number of changes have been made. Excerpts from Thomas Hoby’s enormously influential translation of Castiglione’sBook of the Courtier are included for the first time. Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke is now represented in the bound book anthology—and selections from Sir Philip Sidney’sArcadia are now included as well. The range of selections from Elizabeth I’s poems, letters, and speeches has been broadened considerably, as have been done with Spenser’sFairie Queene; Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis has been added; there are now more poems by Lady Mary Wroth and George Herbert; and Anne Locke is now represented in the Sonnets section. Bacon’s Essay “On Revenge” has been added—as has Thomas Kyd’s influential play of revenge, The Spanish Tragedy. Margaret Cavendish, previously included in volume 3 of the full anthology, will now also be included in this volume; we have added a number of her poems, with an emphasis on those with scientific themes.
Several additions have been made to existing Contexts sections, and an all-new Contexts section, “Ranters, Levellers, and Diggers,” has been added.
There are many additions the website component as well—including Thomas Deloney’sJack of Newbury (also being published as a stand-alone BABL edition), and excerpts from Thomas Dekker’s plague pamphlets.
