Political Economy and the States of Literature in Early Modern England

Crossing the disciplinary borders between political, religious, and economic history, Aaron Kitch's innovative new study demonstrates how sixteenth-century treatises and debates about trade influenced early modern English literature. This analysis focuses on the English commercial revolution before 1620 and, with an impressive combination of archival research, close reading, and attention to historical detail, traces the transformation of genre in both neglected and canonical texts.