Early Modern English Lives: Autobiography and Self‐representation

Citation

Dixon, D. (2009), "Early Modern English Lives: Autobiography and Self‐representation", Library Review, Vol. 58 No. 3, pp. 255-256. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242530910942117

An impressive range of autobiographical journals, letters, diaries and wills dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries illustrates the point that such material should be interpreted in the context of the social mores of the age in which they were written. The introduction makes it clear that the language authors used in these sources should not be regarded in the same way as nowadays. The meaning of fundamental concepts, such as that of the self, has changed radically over the years and these early writers would have made conscious efforts to ensure that their texts reflected the way in which they wished their lives to be represented.

The book is divided into four parts: Early Modern Autobiography and Time; Reflections: Selves and Others; the Self at War: Military Journals and Diaries and Women and Life‐writing and each section is further sub‐divided. Various themes are explored to examine the concept of self‐representation: time and the iconography of clocks and mirrors, travel, war, the making of wills and gender and in each case specific autobiographical texts are used to illustrate these topics.

A large number of texts are discussed. These include the diary of Ralph Josselin, vicar of Earls Colne; the diary that Lady Grace Mildmay willed to her children; journals by three of those who participated in the 1625 Expedition to Cadiz and letters from Henry Spencer who served at the siege of Gloucester in 1642. A selection of travel journals provide the reader with some fascinating insights to a wider world and cover Richard Guylforde's pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and the letters from Thomas Coryate's journey to India. The account of the voyage of Queen Elizabeth's organ builder to Constantinople to install an organ at the Sultan's court is particularly endearing. Three very different female diarists provide us with an illuminating account of marriage and the family.

One of the most appealing features of the book is the vast amount of incidental material that appears. To support the argument that writers were meticulous in their recording of time, we are given an informative discourse on the history of astronomical clocks and the newly available pocket watch. Similarly, a history of mirrors shows how these could be used as instruments of self‐correction, and how they could influence how writers reported their own shortcomings. There are many references to contemporary literature and Shakepeare, Milton, Bacon and Herbert feature prominently, along with contemporary accounts of the Civil War and the Restoration. Particularly poignant was the experience of Dr John Whynell who managed to survive the siege of Exeter.

This erudite book will sit comfortably on the shelves of academics, but it is rather too consciously intellectual for the general reader. For those prepared to overcome its sometimes impenetrable text, the rewards are great. From its pages, fascinating insights into life in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries emerge.