YALE STUDIES IN ENGLISH ALBERT S. COOK, EDITOR LXXIV THE LIFE AND POEMS OF BY LEICESTER BRADNER Instructor of English in Brown University A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School 2-24 PREFACE It has been the object of this dissertation to make a study of the condition of the drama, and of poetry, at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign. The last score of years has made us increasingly familiar with the careers of Udall, Grimald, Hunnis, and others who flourished about the middle of the sixteenth century. The present work is designed to add another portrait to that gallery. Edwards was regarded by his contemporaries as one of the most prominent literary: figures of his day, and so to study him is, in many respects, to study the age. It is a pleasant duty to thank those who have helped to make this work possible. To the staffs of the Yale and Harvard Libraries, the British Museum, and the Public Record Office, I have often been indebted for prompt and willing assistance; to the authorities of Christ Church and of Magdalen College, Oxford, I am also indebted for permission to search the college records, and to Dr. H. E. Salter, of Magdalen College, for most generously putting his time and knowledge at my disposal; to Mr. Henry E. Huntington I am indebted for permission to use photostats of his copy of the first edition of the Paradise of Dayntie Deuises. Dr. W. H. Grattan Flood, Canon J. Davenport, and Mrs. Violet A. Wilson, have all supplied me with useful material in correspondence. Many thanks are due to Professor John M. Berdan for suggestions and criticisms, and to Professor Albert S. Cook for invaluable aid in preparing the manuscript for the press. To the inspiration and teaching of Professor Tucker Brooke, under whose direction this dissertation was written, I owe so much that no adequate acknowledgment can be made. |