Writing North America in the Seventeenth Century

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Writing North America in the Seventeenth Century

English Representations in Print and Manuscript

Literary studies: general History and Archaeology History of the Americas Social and cultural history Colonialism and imperialism

Author: Catherine Armstrong

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Language: English

Published by: Routledge

Published on: 5th December 2016

Format: LCP-protected ePub

Size: 2 Mb

ISBN: 9781351870795


Introduction

Since the first permanent English colony was established at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607 and accounts of the new world started to arrive back on the English shores, English men and women have had a fascination with their transatlantic neighbours and the landscape they inhabit.

About the Study

In this excellent study, Catherine Armstrong looks at the wealth of literature written by settlers of the new colonies, adventurers and commentators back in England, that presented this new world to early modern Englanders.

A vast amount of original literature is examined including travel narratives, promotional literature, sermons, broadsides, ballads, plays and journals, to investigate the intellectual links between mother-country and colony.

Content and Focus

Representations of the climate, landscape, flora and fauna of North America in the printed and manuscript sources are considered in detail, as is the changing understanding of contemporaries in England of the colonial settlements being established in both Virginia and New England, and how these interpretations affected colonial policy and life on the ground in America.

The book also recreates the context of the London book trade of the seventeenth century and the networks through which this literature would have been produced and transmitted to readers.

Target Audience

This book will be valuable to those with interests in colonial history, the Atlantic world, travel literature, and historians of early modern England and North America in general.

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