Introduction: Elizabeth I in Writing

This collection investigates Queen Elizabeth I as both the subject of authors who celebrated her and as an accomplished writer in her own right. With innovative essays from Brenda M. Hosington, Carole Levin, and other established and emerging experts, it reappraises Elizabeth’s translations, letters, poems and prayers through a diverse range of approaches to textuality, from linguistic and philological to literary and cultural-historical. The book also considers Elizabeth as “authored,” reconsidering how she is reflected in the writing of her contemporaries and reconstructing a wider web of relations between the public and private use of language in early modern culture. Contributions from Carlo M. Bajetta, Guillaume Coatelen, Giovanni Iamartino, and others bring the Queen’s presence in Italian Renaissance literature to the fore. Together, these essays illuminate the Queen in writing, from the linguistic and rhetorical strategies that she employed, to the texts inspired by her power and charisma.