A History of Punctuation in English Literature: Volume 1

The most extensive history of punctuation in English literature available, this three-volume set examines the production, context, and impact of punctuation in nearly 100 major authors and texts from the Medieval period to the present. Essays address the complexity, nuance, and significance of punctuation in works of poetry, drama, and prose, using diplomatic quotation to demonstrate punctuation's essential part in literary writing, production, reading, and reception. Topics covered include scribal and textual transmission and genesis ; manuscript and print ; pedagogy ; standardization ; house style ; conventions ; editorial intervention ; reading experiences ; and elocutionary, syntactical, deictic, and spatial punctuation. A general introduction discusses theories and practices of punctuation, while three volume-introductions address the age of manuscript, impact of printing, and subsequent pressures of mechanization, industrialization, and digitization. This History demonstrates that punctuation, far from "accidental," is a crucial element of hermeneutics, deeply impacting literary practice, meaning, and interpretation.