The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume B: The Sixteenth Century / The Early Seventeenth Century

Norton Anthology of English Literature

by M.H. Abrams (Founding Editor), Stephen Greenblatt (General Editor), Carol T. Christ (Editor)

The Ninth Edition offers more complete works and more teachable groupings than ever before, the apparatus you trust, and a new, free Supplemental Ebook with more than 1,000 additional texts. Read by more than 8 million students, The Norton Anthology of English Literature sets the standard and remains an unmatched value.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Anthologies, Poetry, School, Reference, Textbooks

2175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Meyer Howard Abrams is an American literary critic, known for works on Romanticism, in particular his book The Mirror and the Lamp. In a powerful contrast, Abrams shows that until the Romantics, literature was usually understood as a mirror, reflecting the real world, in some kind of mimesis; but for the Romantics, writing was more like a lamp: the light of the writer's inner soul spilled out to illuminate the world. Under Abrams' editorship, the Norton Anthology of English Literature became the standard text for undergraduate survey courses across the U.S. and a major trendsetter in literary canon formation.

Abrams was born in a Jewish family in Long Branch, New Jersey. The son of a house painter and the first in his family to go to college, he entered Harvard University as an undergraduate in 1930. He went into English because, he says, "there weren't jobs in any other profession, so I thought I might as well enjoy starving, instead of starving while doing something I didn't enjoy." After earning his baccalaureate in 1934, Abrams won a Henry fellowship to the University of Cambridge, where his tutor was I.A. Richards. He returned to Harvard for graduate school in 1935 and received his Masters' degree in 1937 and his PhD in 1940. During World War II, he served at the Psycho-Acoustics Laboratory at Harvard. He describes his work as solving the problem of voice communications in a noisy military environment by establishing military codes that are highly audible and inventing selection tests for personnel who had a superior ability to recognize sound in a noisy background. In 1945 Abrams became a professor at Cornell University. As of March 4th, 2008, he was Class of 1916 Professor of English Emeritus there.

Reviews

[Erika Schoeps · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute treasure trove of everything you need to read as a Literature major. I had an awesome time discussing everything in this book in class. If you're new to Literature, DON'T read it without a good professor to guide you through. I would've got nothing out of this without my great professor.

[Paras2]

well, saying that I'm finished with this book is a total lie 'cause well, about 3000 pages, who can be done with it... but for my first reading, I read all the introductions but not the main texts, so... to be continued...

**1st reading, so many more to come**

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook for my British Literature class. If you would like a good overview of literature from the UK, during this time period it's a good book to start out with. Some very well known authors and some that you many not know the name of but will recognize the poem or story.

[˗ˏˋ n a j v a ˊˎ˗ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the whole anthology of renaissance and 17th century major works and will definitely come back to it one day for a more thorough study.

[Yasmin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good selection of poetry and other texts ranging from the 16th century until the end of the interregnum period, the introductions each author is given is really helpful for understanding the works contextually, and to be honest I wouldn't enjoy much of these texts without the historical background and the fact that I am studying them.

Leo Africanus, on North Africans
Michel de Montaigne, of the Caniballes
Walter Ralegh, discovery of Guiana
Thomas More, Utopia, (haven't finished yet)
Thomas Wyatt 3/5
Henry Howard 2/5
Queen Elizabeth, Tilbury speech, 5/5
Edmund Spencer, extracts from Faerie Queene, 3/5
Fulke Greville 2/5
Phillip Sidney 3/5
Christopher Marlowe, Dr Faustus, 4/5
Shakespeare 4/5
John Donne 2/5
Aemilia Lanyer 3/5
Ben Johnson 3/5
Mary Wroth 3/5
John Webster, Duchess of Malfi, (haven't finished yet)
George Herbert 4/5
Richard Lovelace 2/5
Katherine Phillips 4/5
Andrew Marvell 4/5
John Milton, Paradise Lost 1-9, 4/5

[David]

I'm actually reading the 11th ed, but the ISBN does not show up in searches here.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this series of textbooks. Each section has a clear, concise introduction to different aspects of that theme. It provides brief, informative biographies on each author. It includes a wide variety of authors and poets to choose from. There is no way you could cover everything in this book in one semester. It has wonderful footnotes to help clarify archaic words and phrases as well. All this is presented without any kind of opinion or critique, leaving the passages open for debate or personal interpretation. I really enjoyed it.

[Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has a lot of interesting history of the period, as well as an introduction to the different genres and writers.

Not something I would have read right now if I didn't have to read it for class, however, the Norton Anthologies never disappoint me.

[allison riera :)]

/ for my early modern british lit class.

[Hana Fadness · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my Utopian lit class - has some great pieces in it!

[cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Include the entirety of Astrophil and Stella next time you cowards

[Rachel Matsuoka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unpopular opinion: Canon = another word for overrated.

But the editing team did a great job with the writers' biographies and introductions.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, love the Norton Anthologies. I've already reviewed Volume A, and most of the positive stuff I said is still true of this anthology. The introductory materials are good, and the selection of texts presented is comprehensive.

One thing I'm not 100% happy about is the division within the book. There are two broad period overviews, one the the Tudor period and one to the Stuart period and Protectorate. While I get the rationale for drawing a dividing line at 1603, the division within the text suggests more of a break than a slight transition. I'd say that the division between Charles I and the Protectorate is probably more stark than the shift from Bess to James I, but I suppose it would be too cumbersome to divide things up any other way.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all, this is a great collection. The variety is wide, with a large number of different topics covered. The notes are helpful, and I can't criticise this book as an introduction to literature of the Renaissance period.
The contents are, obviously, limited, and I dislike Norton's editorial process of altering texts written in English English to American spellings - I'd rather read what Shakespeare wrote than what some moronic American editor misspelt. American English is, obviously, appropriate for texts written in American English. American English hadn't been invented when these texts were written.

[Vernon Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good selection, the best part was the seriously large section on Milton. Areopogetica was awesome. (It loses a star out of principal, I was forced to buy this book and forced to read it. Perhaps I'll revisit later.)

Other highlights: Robert Herrick's poetry, Ben Johnson's Volpone, The Duchess of Malafi. I know there are others but these are the ones off the top of my head.

[Christian Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like English Literature, then invest in these works. Between Volumes 1 and 2, it covers all major works from the dawn of time to modern writers. It's got just about everything you'd ever want or need!

[Sandra Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though I confess I have not read each poem and last story, the book itself is as guiding as the bible. It is full of morals, theories, teachings, laughter (unlike the bible), and truths. These stories are a challenge, a puzzle, a maze and when complete, a break through!

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with Volume A, The Norton Anthology of English Literature is a comprehensive collection of mid century English literature.

Truly the only unfortunate thing about it is the size: it is horrendous to carry around!

[Tree · Rating 4 out of 5]

The material in this anthology has a fantastic array of 16-17 c. works. I really wish it didn't feel like the book would fall apart in my next reading, though...

[Ijorabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Includes a wide variety of prose, poetry, and history. An excellent introduction to English literature.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Brit Lit class

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

~review pending~

[Jewels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please see my review of volumes A & C, because the same opinion holds true for this volume.

[Becky Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read this for my British Literature class, and I really enjoyed the collection of stories in it. Finally getting to read some Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Marlow.

[Sannie Hald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read some of the context for university.

[Mairéad (is roaming the Undying Lands) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars.

***Read For School***

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my degree, various books inside, all interesting in their own way. worth a read if interested in the time period.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sigh. I'm hooked.

[Chantel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read every story, but a large portion and I found some really great works in there. Stories I hope to tell my children one day!

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook for my Tudor British Literature class.