Tottel's Miscellany
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Songes and Sonettes, written by the ryght honorable Lorde Henry Haward late Earle of Surrey, and other, usually called Tottel's Miscellany, was the first printed anthology of English poetry. It was published by Richard Tottel in 1557, and ran to many editions in the sixteenth century.
It was particularly influential in establishing the sonnet as a short verse form in English. The collection contained many sonnets by Thomas Wyatt and the Earl of Surrey. It became a byword; there is a reference to it in The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Other poets included were Nicholas Grimald, Thomas Norton, Lord Vaux, Sir John Cheke, William Gray, and Sir Anthony St. Leger. Some pieces were anonymous or of indeterminate authorship; Chaucer was represented. C. S. Lewis sees the collection as based on a school active from 1530.
The Miscellany has been reprinted numerous times, including a two-volume set by the Harvard Press in the 1920's.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- [Available through the Oxford Text Archive: http://ota.ahds.ac.uk/]
