Monday, 20 June 2016
CFP: Space, Place and Image in Early Modern English Literature
The project on "Space, Place and Image in the Poetry and Prose of John Donne" at Université de Lausanne is hosting a conference, 11-13 May 2017, expanding their scope to include Early Modern English Literature (c. 1500-1700) more broadly. Confirmed keynote speakers are Dr. Mary Morrissey (University of Reading) and Professor Andrew McRae (University of Exeter). The conference will take place on the beautiful campus of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. For full details, see the full call for papers here.
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Call for Papes: Donne and Certainty
As out-going president of the John Donne Society, I'm in charge of putting together a panel for the MLA convention next January in Philadelphia. I invite you to submit brief abstracts for papers on any aspect of Donne’s poetry or prose that relates to the question of how Donne approached the problem of certainty or assurance. Papers might address the discourses Donne drew on (religious, philosophical, scientific, legal, etc.), the distinctive nature of the problem in particular contexts or commonalities among contexts, the resources available to him in particular genres, or patterns in the way he figured certainty. Please send title and abstract by Friday, March 11 to Kate Narveson (narveska@luther.edu).
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Looking ahead to 2017: the JDS call for papers
We are already looking forward to our next annual meeting of the John Donne Society. The 32nd Annual Conference of the Society will be held from Thursday, 16 February, to
Saturday, 18 February 2017 at The Lod and Carol Cook Conference Center at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. See the full call for papers below:
Saturday, 18 February 2017 at The Lod and Carol Cook Conference Center at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. See the full call for papers below:
Monday, 22 February 2016
Notes from the John Donne Society Conference 2016
As I did last year, I am providing my notes on papers recently presented at the annual conference of the John Donne Society that focused on the prose works of Donne. We were again treated to an excellent slate of papers (see program here), but this year there were fewer papers treating Donne's prose: the songs and sonnets seemed to be favoured this time around. So, there was less work for me!
"The Johannine Spirit-Paraclete in Donne’s Sermons and Holy Sonnets"
Paul Cefalu, Lafayette College
In his two Pentecost sermons of 1627 and 1628 on John 14:26 (and context), Donne emphasizes the missionary role of the Holy Spirit as a teacher and comforter who works by imparting the memory of Christ. Donne evinces a particular preoccupation with the Spirit as comforter.
These aspects carry over into the holy sonnets. In "Father, part of His double interest," Donne extends the notion of Christ’s love conveyed from God through the Spirit. This sonnet answers poetically Donne’s own sermonic call to find comfort in the work of the spirit as a conduit God’s love through Christ to all.
"Wilt thou love God…" also echoes the language of the Johannine passage, blending a Pauline notion of adoption with a Johannine emphasis on begottenness, where Christ is already glorified once he has arrived, and similarly, Christians have already begun to enjoy the indwelling Spirit, a realized eschatology in the present. Donne’s emphasis on a two-way love in the opening line reflects the sort of reciprocity outlined by John.
"Donne’s Defense of Preaching: Two Sermons under Pressure"
John Walters, Indiana University
In his sermon on Acts 7:60, Donne speaks of men that move "in middle spheres" negotiating between those above and below in the social hierarchy and between the ideal and the practical. Donne’s commitment to a counsel-based political society came increasingly under pressure from the centralization of political power and imposition of conformity with a corollary of the preacher’s diminishing ability to deliver counsel, to work within this middle sphere. Answering claims that Donne’s was a supporter of absolutism, Walters suggests Donne’s metaphor of the middle sphere suggests a more complex picture: discretion does not necessitate compliance or complacency, the middle sphere was the site of intense debate and contest (building on Lori Anne Ferrell). How does Donne, from this base, aim to shape political structures in his sermons?
In his Paul’s Cross before King James on 15 September 1622 on the "Directions for Preachers," Donne is not a servile sycophant. His emphasis is on the benefit of the preacher-counsellor for the flock (Judges 5:20). He begins with the premise of King James as head of the Church. At same time, he insists that the preacher has a responsibility to preach gospel. He argues that the Directions help preachers to serve God better: effectiveness requires proper use; the Directions ensure proper use and therefore enhance effectiveness. Orderliness is more effective than disorderliness, an army more than mob.
In his sermon preached on Mark 4:24 before King Charles at Whitehall on 1 April 1627, at end of his career, Donne remains constant in his conviction of the importance of preaching in the Church of England in the face of political change and pressure. In this sermon, Donne’s does not parse out his verse, "Take heed what you hear," as is his usual practice, but repeats the whole verse over and over through the sermon as a kind of imperative to obey the command as expressed. This is a strong defense of the importance of preaching in the face of Laudian emphases. Donne’s statement that this was "first time … I wished the king away," speaking directly to his citizen audience, is a recognition of the potential offence in this emphasis. He was right to worry, but Charles was offended not by Donne's supposed slighting of Queen Anne (as is often claimed), but rather, by Donne's assertion, drawing on Jeremiah 8:17 and Isaiah 3:1, that the loss or suppression of counsel is the first punishment God will afflict on a sinful nation: the worst fate of a nation is loss of preachers as counsellors. This verse thus emphasizes the important for congregations to hear preachers' counsel. Charles and Laud might have been offended by Donne’s too-strident defense of the importance of preaching.
"'Nourishing jealousies in princes and contempt in subjects': John Donne and Militant English Catholicism"
Marla Lunderber, Hope College
Builds on Anthony Milton’s assertion that in seventeenth-century England, anti-popery was principally political rather than religious. In his treatment of Ignatius and the Jesuits, Donne focuses on their misuse of power, and his central concern is the threat of national upheaval, specifically, regicide. In Ignatius His Conclave, for example, Machiavelli’s compliment to Ignatius about his ability in waging "Spiritual War" modulates into a more focused compliment about his facility at regicide. In the sermons, Donne makes extensive use of Jesuit commentary (with important qualifications), but he is frequently cautionary about the Jesuits' political threat. In his Lenten sermon preached at Whitehall on 12 February 1616, he characterizes a Jesuit as a fox who might deceive a simple soul in a matter of religion, and, much more seriously and menacingly, as a wolf who might prove a regicide. Donne tends toward openness and inclusiveness in theological thought, so far as it rests on fundamentals, but is not tolerant regarding political threat.
"The Johannine Spirit-Paraclete in Donne’s Sermons and Holy Sonnets"
Paul Cefalu, Lafayette College
In his two Pentecost sermons of 1627 and 1628 on John 14:26 (and context), Donne emphasizes the missionary role of the Holy Spirit as a teacher and comforter who works by imparting the memory of Christ. Donne evinces a particular preoccupation with the Spirit as comforter.
These aspects carry over into the holy sonnets. In "Father, part of His double interest," Donne extends the notion of Christ’s love conveyed from God through the Spirit. This sonnet answers poetically Donne’s own sermonic call to find comfort in the work of the spirit as a conduit God’s love through Christ to all.
"Wilt thou love God…" also echoes the language of the Johannine passage, blending a Pauline notion of adoption with a Johannine emphasis on begottenness, where Christ is already glorified once he has arrived, and similarly, Christians have already begun to enjoy the indwelling Spirit, a realized eschatology in the present. Donne’s emphasis on a two-way love in the opening line reflects the sort of reciprocity outlined by John.
"Donne’s Defense of Preaching: Two Sermons under Pressure"
John Walters, Indiana University
In his sermon on Acts 7:60, Donne speaks of men that move "in middle spheres" negotiating between those above and below in the social hierarchy and between the ideal and the practical. Donne’s commitment to a counsel-based political society came increasingly under pressure from the centralization of political power and imposition of conformity with a corollary of the preacher’s diminishing ability to deliver counsel, to work within this middle sphere. Answering claims that Donne’s was a supporter of absolutism, Walters suggests Donne’s metaphor of the middle sphere suggests a more complex picture: discretion does not necessitate compliance or complacency, the middle sphere was the site of intense debate and contest (building on Lori Anne Ferrell). How does Donne, from this base, aim to shape political structures in his sermons?
In his Paul’s Cross before King James on 15 September 1622 on the "Directions for Preachers," Donne is not a servile sycophant. His emphasis is on the benefit of the preacher-counsellor for the flock (Judges 5:20). He begins with the premise of King James as head of the Church. At same time, he insists that the preacher has a responsibility to preach gospel. He argues that the Directions help preachers to serve God better: effectiveness requires proper use; the Directions ensure proper use and therefore enhance effectiveness. Orderliness is more effective than disorderliness, an army more than mob.
In his sermon preached on Mark 4:24 before King Charles at Whitehall on 1 April 1627, at end of his career, Donne remains constant in his conviction of the importance of preaching in the Church of England in the face of political change and pressure. In this sermon, Donne’s does not parse out his verse, "Take heed what you hear," as is his usual practice, but repeats the whole verse over and over through the sermon as a kind of imperative to obey the command as expressed. This is a strong defense of the importance of preaching in the face of Laudian emphases. Donne’s statement that this was "first time … I wished the king away," speaking directly to his citizen audience, is a recognition of the potential offence in this emphasis. He was right to worry, but Charles was offended not by Donne's supposed slighting of Queen Anne (as is often claimed), but rather, by Donne's assertion, drawing on Jeremiah 8:17 and Isaiah 3:1, that the loss or suppression of counsel is the first punishment God will afflict on a sinful nation: the worst fate of a nation is loss of preachers as counsellors. This verse thus emphasizes the important for congregations to hear preachers' counsel. Charles and Laud might have been offended by Donne’s too-strident defense of the importance of preaching.
"'Nourishing jealousies in princes and contempt in subjects': John Donne and Militant English Catholicism"
Marla Lunderber, Hope College
Builds on Anthony Milton’s assertion that in seventeenth-century England, anti-popery was principally political rather than religious. In his treatment of Ignatius and the Jesuits, Donne focuses on their misuse of power, and his central concern is the threat of national upheaval, specifically, regicide. In Ignatius His Conclave, for example, Machiavelli’s compliment to Ignatius about his ability in waging "Spiritual War" modulates into a more focused compliment about his facility at regicide. In the sermons, Donne makes extensive use of Jesuit commentary (with important qualifications), but he is frequently cautionary about the Jesuits' political threat. In his Lenten sermon preached at Whitehall on 12 February 1616, he characterizes a Jesuit as a fox who might deceive a simple soul in a matter of religion, and, much more seriously and menacingly, as a wolf who might prove a regicide. Donne tends toward openness and inclusiveness in theological thought, so far as it rests on fundamentals, but is not tolerant regarding political threat.
Tuesday, 8 September 2015
Biathanatos (Canterbury MS U210/2/2)
We are pleased to announce the release of a facsimile production of an important manuscript copy of Donne's infamous work Biathanatos (see here), with much thanks to the Library and Archives of the Canterbury Cathedral for the images and permission to publish them. If you would like to participate in the John Donne Society's Prose project by transcribing this document, please contact Brent Nelson.
To provide some context for this manuscript, we have asked Daniel Starza Smith to provide a brief introduction.
Canterbury Cathedral’s manuscript copy of Biathanatos (MS U210/2/2, henceforth Canterbury), John Donne’s lengthy prose treaty on suicide, is a curious artifact. Donne himself implied that very few copies of this unusual work were transcribed in his own lifetime, perhaps even just one. Donne famously desired that this work should not be printed, entrusting it to his friend Robert Ker with the injunction: "I forbid it only the Presse, and the Fire; publish it not, but yet burn it not; and between those, do what you will with it" (Donne, 22). The evidence about its circulation in manuscript points similarly to a restricted readership, since Donne himself implied that very few copies of this unusual work were transcribed in his own lifetime. Yet we know the text was eventually printed (posthumously) in quarto, by Humphrey Moseley in 1647, and that at least one other manuscript survives apart from Canterbury (Bodleian Library, MS è Musaeo 131, known as Herbert; see Smith, 227–40). Before the discovery of Canterbury by Peter Beal, it was assumed that Donne had kept the circulation of this controversial work particularly private. This manuscript allows us to amend that view slightly, since the author seems not to have been involved in its production, or at least not closely.
A small quarto volume (gathered 120, 2–716, 812, with quires of irregular size), Canterbury is a formal scribal product, written in a single unknown hand on pre-ruled pages in dark brown ink, in a single hand, with marginal references to Donne’s sources added afterwards in red ink; section headings are copied in the margins, probably to save space. Peter Beal dates the script of the Canterbury manuscript broadly to c.1600–40, adding that it has the appearance of "a purely professional copy, made for someone by a hired scribe … as a purely routine job without any specially careful attempt to check the accuracy of his transcript" (Beal, 40). At 245 pages, the last 35 of which are left blank, it is rather shorter than the "not … much lesse then 300 pages" he described to Sir Henry Goodere when picking up the first scribal copy in 1610 (Donne, 34; Smith, 227–8). Since it contains numerous uncorrected scribal errors, Donne was probably not involved in its production. In contrast, the other surviving manuscript of this work, the 285-page Herbert, contains corrections in Donne’s own hand.
The Canterbury MS has an unclear relation to other surviving witnesses of Biathanatos. Canterbury, Herbert and the 1647 quarto are all textually independent – none was copied from either of the others. However, despite Donne’s apparent supervision of Herbert, it is Canterbury and the quarto which contain the more complete text, including revisions and sidenotes not recorded in Herbert. Nevertheless, Canterbury and the quarto are by no means similar: Beal noted "several hundred substantive variants" (44) between them, concluding that either "three copyists or compositors are using Donne’s holograph, two of them misreading [portions of] his cursive script, while one of them reads it correctly; or, alternatively, Canterbury is using a different exemplar from that used by the other two" (46).
The manuscript was owned in the late eighteenth century by Rev. John Morris (d.1798) and in the early nineteenth century by Sir Robert Harry Inglis (d.1855). Before these owners, it appears to have been owned by William Capel, rector of Milton Bryan in Bedfordshire, right next to Woburn Abbey – the seventeenth-century seat of the Russells, Earls of Bedford. Beal speculates that the manuscript may have come into Capel’s possession from the library at Woburn, having been collected by a member of the Russell family. Lucy Harington Russell (d.1627), Countess of Bedford, was of course Donne’s pre-eminent patron for a number of years and would be the Woburn inhabitant most likely to have sought it out. Henry Goodere is known to have transmitted Donne’s texts to her in the first decade of the seventeenth century, and although the manuscript is not in his hand, he may therefore have played some part in its circulation.
Works Cited
Beal, Peter. In Praise of Scribes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Donne, John. Letters to Severall Persons of Honour. London: Richard Marriot, 1651.
Smith, Daniel Starza. John Donne and the Conway Papers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Daniel Starza Smith, Lincoln College, Oxford
To provide some context for this manuscript, we have asked Daniel Starza Smith to provide a brief introduction.
Canterbury MS U210/2/2
Canterbury Cathedral’s manuscript copy of Biathanatos (MS U210/2/2, henceforth Canterbury), John Donne’s lengthy prose treaty on suicide, is a curious artifact. Donne himself implied that very few copies of this unusual work were transcribed in his own lifetime, perhaps even just one. Donne famously desired that this work should not be printed, entrusting it to his friend Robert Ker with the injunction: "I forbid it only the Presse, and the Fire; publish it not, but yet burn it not; and between those, do what you will with it" (Donne, 22). The evidence about its circulation in manuscript points similarly to a restricted readership, since Donne himself implied that very few copies of this unusual work were transcribed in his own lifetime. Yet we know the text was eventually printed (posthumously) in quarto, by Humphrey Moseley in 1647, and that at least one other manuscript survives apart from Canterbury (Bodleian Library, MS è Musaeo 131, known as Herbert; see Smith, 227–40). Before the discovery of Canterbury by Peter Beal, it was assumed that Donne had kept the circulation of this controversial work particularly private. This manuscript allows us to amend that view slightly, since the author seems not to have been involved in its production, or at least not closely.
A small quarto volume (gathered 120, 2–716, 812, with quires of irregular size), Canterbury is a formal scribal product, written in a single unknown hand on pre-ruled pages in dark brown ink, in a single hand, with marginal references to Donne’s sources added afterwards in red ink; section headings are copied in the margins, probably to save space. Peter Beal dates the script of the Canterbury manuscript broadly to c.1600–40, adding that it has the appearance of "a purely professional copy, made for someone by a hired scribe … as a purely routine job without any specially careful attempt to check the accuracy of his transcript" (Beal, 40). At 245 pages, the last 35 of which are left blank, it is rather shorter than the "not … much lesse then 300 pages" he described to Sir Henry Goodere when picking up the first scribal copy in 1610 (Donne, 34; Smith, 227–8). Since it contains numerous uncorrected scribal errors, Donne was probably not involved in its production. In contrast, the other surviving manuscript of this work, the 285-page Herbert, contains corrections in Donne’s own hand.
The Canterbury MS has an unclear relation to other surviving witnesses of Biathanatos. Canterbury, Herbert and the 1647 quarto are all textually independent – none was copied from either of the others. However, despite Donne’s apparent supervision of Herbert, it is Canterbury and the quarto which contain the more complete text, including revisions and sidenotes not recorded in Herbert. Nevertheless, Canterbury and the quarto are by no means similar: Beal noted "several hundred substantive variants" (44) between them, concluding that either "three copyists or compositors are using Donne’s holograph, two of them misreading [portions of] his cursive script, while one of them reads it correctly; or, alternatively, Canterbury is using a different exemplar from that used by the other two" (46).
The manuscript was owned in the late eighteenth century by Rev. John Morris (d.1798) and in the early nineteenth century by Sir Robert Harry Inglis (d.1855). Before these owners, it appears to have been owned by William Capel, rector of Milton Bryan in Bedfordshire, right next to Woburn Abbey – the seventeenth-century seat of the Russells, Earls of Bedford. Beal speculates that the manuscript may have come into Capel’s possession from the library at Woburn, having been collected by a member of the Russell family. Lucy Harington Russell (d.1627), Countess of Bedford, was of course Donne’s pre-eminent patron for a number of years and would be the Woburn inhabitant most likely to have sought it out. Henry Goodere is known to have transmitted Donne’s texts to her in the first decade of the seventeenth century, and although the manuscript is not in his hand, he may therefore have played some part in its circulation.
Works Cited
Beal, Peter. In Praise of Scribes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Donne, John. Letters to Severall Persons of Honour. London: Richard Marriot, 1651.
Smith, Daniel Starza. John Donne and the Conway Papers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Daniel Starza Smith, Lincoln College, Oxford
Wednesday, 5 August 2015
Call for Papers for the Annual Conference of the John Donne Society 2016
The John Donne Society's 31st Annual Conference will be held 18–20 February 2016 at the Lod and Carole Cook Conference Center on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. The conference features a single-stream format, which guarantees fulsome discussion, involving Donne scholars at all stages of career. Each year the conference gives two awards, the John R. Roberts Award for Best Essay by a Graduate Student and the Kate Gartner Frost Award for Best Essay by an Early Career Scholar. Individual papers and panels on any aspect of Donne’s life and work are welcome. Full papers and substantial abstracts must be received by Professor Sean H. McDowell (mcdowell@seattleu.edu) by 15 September 2015. See the full call for papers here: http://johndonnesociety.tamu.edu/files/2016CFP.pdf.
Thursday, 23 April 2015
Donne and the Bible
The John Donne Journal will be publishing a special issue on John Donne and the Bible, to be edited by Chanita Goodblatt. Anyone who has read Donne knows how central the Bible is to both his poetry and prose. The topic has been touched on many times before in the scholarly literature, but this will be the first organized collection to focus specifically on Donne's engagement with the Biblical text, translations, and commentary. While the topic has been of enduring importance to scholars, the Internet tells us the topic has much broader interest. BibleStudyTools.com offers a selection of Donne's sermons in modern spelling in its "Classics" section, and BibleHum.com offers a selection of excerpts related to particular Bible passages. The topic is both perennial and timely. See the full call for papers here.
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