Epigrams of Sir John Harington

Gerard Kilroy was educated by the Benedictines, read Greek, Latin and English literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, and was awarded his doctorate by Lancaster University. The author of Edmund Campion: Memory and Transcription (Ashgate, 2005), he is currently researching Sir John Harington's innovative use of the printed book, his surprising move from print to manuscript, and his lifelong commitment to transcribing the poetry of Edmund Campion.

• Contents: Preface; Part I The Pleasant Learned Poet: The Courtier in the Margins; Models and Sources; Patterns and Sequences; The Texts and Early Modern Readers. Part II The Epigrams: Critical Apparatus; First-line Index and Table of Contents; Appendix; Tables; Bibliography; Index.

’This indispensable book presents Sir John Harington's Epigrams adequately for the first time, and so unmasks a major Elizabethan poet.... (a) truly wonderful index... What most sets Kilroy's Harington apart are the sound decisions it is based on, and the thorough descriptions of manuscripts.... At every point, Kilroy describes exactly what we need to know about scribal contexts and probable readerships. He provides tables to facilitate comparison of the various versions and to allow easy conversion of McClure's numbering to Kilroy's. This edition, likely to become standard, will be essential for students of Elizabethan literature and desirable to all those interested in the literary stratagems available to free minds in repressive societies.’ Times Literary Supplement 'Gerard Kilroy's superb edition of the Epigrams brings to a peak the modern rediscovery and reappraisal of works by Queen Elizabeth's "witty godson" Sir John Harington. Among the poems most widely circulated in manuscript in the 1600s, with all their sharp observation, humour, satire and frequent bawdiness, but subject to garbled printed editions after his death, they have now at last been given the serious scholarly treatment they so richly deserve.' Peter Beal, University of London, UK 'This edition, with its erudite and detailed introduction, lucidly reflects the complexities of the manuscript witnesses and sheds new light on Harington himself and the models for, and designs behind, his Epigrams.' Heather Wolfe, Curator of Manuscripts, Folger Shakespeare Library, USA ’There has never been a complete printed edition of these 400 wonderful little poems. Gerard Kilroy's book is therefore a major achievement... Hats off to Kilroy.’ Catholic Herald ’... this is the first complete, correctly ordered edition of the Epigrams, superseding the 1618 print that formed the basis for McClure. In sum, this is an invaluable resource for those interested in Elizabethan and 17th-century literature