A critical edition of Philip Stubbes's anatomie of abuses

The Anatomie of Abuses by Philip Stubbes was printed four times between 1583 and 1595, each new edition undergoing thorough authorial revision. This old-spelling critical edition highlights the complicated textual history of the work and its slow development over a twelve-year period by presenting the text of the final 1595 edition but drawing attention to features of the three earlier versions throughout the critical apparatus. Readers interested in engaging with the work as set out in the original 1595 edition are offered a facsimile of the Huntington copy in an appendix to the thesis. The text of the Abuses has been supplemented with a full and detailed commentary which attempts, in particular, to flesh out the social and economic background in which Stubbes was writing and indicate the extent to which he borrowed material from other contemporary pamphleteers. The introduction includes an examination of the author's supposed Puritan leanings and draws out the fears of excess and social disorder implicit throughout his complaint

Trying to be Diplomatic: Editing The Humorous Magistrate

This essay reflects on the resistances manuscripts present to diplomatic editorial procedure. Taking as its example the Arbury text of The Humorous Magistrate, it analyses the interpretive restrictions imposed by the transfer from manuscript to print, especially when working with documents that show extensive correction and amendation. The editor is forced to choose between introducing to the print edition ambiguities that are not features of the manuscript, or shaping the reading experience in light of one’s critical interpretation of the manuscript evidence. 'Accuracy' is thus less an absolute criteria one meets, than a subjective set of procedures one defines for the purposes at hand