John Lyly

John Dover WilsonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 267K words
Chapters: 27

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.John Lyly by John Dover WilsonAuthor: Wilson, John Dover, 1881-1969,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 6, 2007

Editor's review

This is John Dover Wilson's study of the sixteenth-century English writer John Lyly, a classic topic in Elizabethan literary scholarship. Lyly is known for his ornate, elaborate "Euphuistic" style, which profoundly influenced the prose style of his time and has often led literary history to reduce him to a mere stylistic label. Wilson's discussion places Lyly back in the context of court culture, theatrical development, and rhetorical education, helping readers understand why his works were popular and why his reputation has fluctuated in later assessments. The book is suitable as supplementary reading for courses in English literary history and for readers interested in Renaissance rhetoric and early drama. The text is academic English, with detailed argumentation, and requires some grounding in literary history. Readers are advised to read selections from Lyly's works first before turning to the critical commentary, so as to appreciate the tension between style and criticism.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of English literature and researchers of Elizabethan literature
Readers interested in Renaissance rhetoric and the history of prose style
Enthusiasts of early English drama and court culture
Teachers seeking classic case studies for literary history reading

Not a good fit for

Beginners without a foundation in English literary history
Readers who only want to read Lyly's original works and are not interested in academic commentary
General readers expecting a light, popular biographical narrative

Reading tips

Read selections from Lyly's Euphues first, then the critical portion of this book.
Read alongside the Elizabethan chapters of an English literary history textbook.
Pay attention to the analysis of rhetorical devices and take brief notes for easy reference.
For English reading, start with the introduction to grasp the book's central questions before proceeding chapter by chapter.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read this book without knowing John Lyly?

You can, but your gain will be limited. This is a research work that presumes basic familiarity with Elizabethan literature. It is advisable to first learn about Lyly's major works and the basic features of the "Euphuistic" style through a literary history textbook before engaging with the arguments in this book.

What aspects of Lyly does this book mainly discuss?

According to the materials, this book is Wilson's specialized study of John Lyly and belongs to English language and literature. It focuses on Lyly's literary status and stylistic issues rather than being a simple biographical account. The specific chapter contents should be confirmed against the original book; readers may use it as an academic reference for Lyly studies.

What should I note when reading the electronic edition?

This is a public-domain English e-book prepared by Project Gutenberg. The main text is in English, formatted primarily as plain text, and lacks modern annotations and updated bibliographies. Readers are advised to have literary history reference works on hand and to verify names, play titles, and terminology as they read.

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About the author

John Dover Wilson Author · British · 1881–1969

John Dover Wilson (1881–1969) was a British Shakespeare scholar. He is best known as the editor of the Cambridge edition of Shakespeare, for which he devoted considerable effort to establishing and collating the texts of the plays, and he also researched textual problems surrounding them. Beyond his Shakespeare work, he wrote a book on John Lyly, John Lyly, which reflects a continuing interest in the literature and linguistic style of the English Renaissance. The present collection holds one of his works. Publicly available information about his life and academic career is limited, making it difficult to describe his education or posts in detail; judged from his extant works and common assessments, however, his contribution lies chiefly in providing readers with relatively reliable Shakespeare texts and in advancing scholarly discussion of how those texts were formed and transmitted. His editorial work is still consulted by Shakespeare researchers.