Theatre of the Book is an account of the entangled histories of print and the theatre in Europe between the Renaissance and the late nineteenth century: a history of European dramatic publication (providing comparative and historical perspective to the growing field of textual studies); an examination of the creation of the modern notion of text and performance; and a comparative genealogy of ideas about theatrical and textual reception. It shows that, far from being marginal to Renaissance dramatists, the printing press had an essential role to play in the birth of the modern theatre, crucially shaping the normative conception of 'theatre' as a distinct aesthetic medium and of drama as a distinct narrative form, helping to forge a theatricalist aesthetics in opposition to 'the book'. Treating playtexts, engravings, actor portraits, notation systems, and theatrical ephemera at once as material objects and expressions of complex cultural formations, Theatre of the Book examines the European theatre's continual refashioning of itself in the world of print.

The American Comparative Literature Association's Harry Levin prize for the best book in comparative literary history published between 1999-2002

About the Author
Julie Stone Peters is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University NY. Her publications include Congreve, the Drama, and the Printed Word (Standford UP 1990) and, with Andrea Wolper, Women's Rights, Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives (Routledge 1995).

Reviews
... a wide-ranging, ambitious, and intellectually-impressive volume ... One cannot but admire the ambition of this study ... well-informed and impressively scholarly ... The Theatre of the Book teaches us much about publishing and drama in Europe over the course of four centuries and helps us to understand their intertwined relationship. It is a formidable piece of work. * Early Modern Literary Studies *
... remarkable and wide-ranging. * Peter Holland, Times Literary Supplement *


Awards
Winner of The American Comparative Literature Association's Harry Levin prize for the best book in comparative literary history published between 1999-2002.



Book Information
ISBN 9780199262168
Author Julie Stone Peters
Format Paperback
Page Count 508
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 903g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 27mm