SSEMW 2013 J. Roberts Award for a Scholarly Edition: The Devonshire Manuscript: A Woman's Book of Courtly Poetry, ed. Elizabeth Heale

"Elizabeth Heale’s edition of The Devonshire Manuscript brings this important collection of Tudor poetry into print for the first time in an outstanding contribution to Toronto’s The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe Series. Heale’s subtitle, “A Women’s Book of Courtly Poetry,” announces her intention to demonstrate the gendered production and circulation of The Devonshire Manuscript, better known for its inclusion of the work of such canonical male poets as Sir Thomas Wyatt than for the women who owned, copied, commented upon, edited, and contributed to the manuscript. Heale’s introduction meticulously outlines the varied evidence for reconstructing the composition practices of Mary (Howard) Fitzroy, Lady Mary Douglas, and Mary Shelton, illuminating their active participation—and interventions—in the literary culture of the Henrican court. This beautifully produced volume preserves our sense of the original by including comparative plates of the various hands that contributed to the manuscript and by graphically reproducing the numerical and symbolic annotations in the modern print transcription. While it may seem incredible that such a significant manuscript has been unavailable in print until now, we can only be grateful that the first authoritative edition was undertaken by Heale, whose intelligent, careful, and graceful scholarly edition brings this richly documented example of early modern women’s literary practices vividly into view."
(SSEMW web site, January 8, 2013)

To order print copies contact the CRRS. To order online editions (institutions only) contact Iter.