Reading Anthologies in Sixteenth-Century France

Reading Anthologies in Sixteenth-Century France

A study day at the Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool

Friday 20^th November 2009

Organised by

Dr Sara Barker (Department of History, University of Lancaster)

Dr Pollie Bromilow (French Section, SOCLAS, University of Liverpool)

Renaissance anthologies took many different forms: ‘receuils', ‘oeuvres', ‘poésies choisies', song books, joke collections. Whether in printed or manuscript form, many kinds of these anthologies circulated in sixteenth-century France both in Latin and the vernacular. This study day seeks to explore the imperatives that governed the production, circulation and reception of anthologies as opposed to single works in sixteenth-century France. What editorial and commercial imperatives drove their appearance? What cultural practices arose from their publication? How are the cultural practices of the anthology related to or different from those of collected and multi-part works?

Points of departure include but are not limited to:

• collected works (‘oeuvres') & ‘poésies choisies'
• multi-part works and the development of ‘brands' eg. the Amadis de Gaule, histoires tragiques and histoires prodigieuses
• the interplay between Latin and vernacular anthologies
• the interplay between printed and manuscript anthologies
• commercial imperatives
• editorial practices
• the role of translation in producing anthologies
• bibliographical approaches and methodologies

The proceedings of this study day will form the basis of a co-edited volume.

Abstracts for 20-minute papers should be sent to Dr Sara Barker and Dr Pollie Bromilow at pollie.bromilow@liverpool.ac.uk by Friday 3^rd April 2009.