Isabella Whitney amongst the stalls of Richard Jones

The (lost) tune of ‘Raging Love’ and its reverberations in Isabella Whitney’s Copy of a Letter

“…So too is the fact that such moments of personal amatory despair habitually 'call to minde' for the speaker well-known literary scenes of more literalised warfare and physical devastation. Introspection and the affective dimensions of textual reception are here inextricably linked, for his own romantically embattled condition leads Surrey's ailing lover, in turn, to consider the havoc wreaked by 'boysteous windes' upon Greek fleet and the 'many…good knight[s] overron' in the 'ten yeres warre' (9,17,13). These 'bloodie dede[s]' and legendary acts of destruction, as he ruminates, were prompted by much the same quotidian desire 'to winne a lady faire' that motivates his own lamentthough he believes his own beloved to be a much 'worthier wight' than the legendary Helen (14,21,24).…”

“…8 This marked the beginning of Jones's longstanding specialisation in broadside ballads, which have been identified as 'a staple of his career'. 9 The scholarship of Tessa Watt has demonstrated that '[i]n the early Elizabethan years, most of the stationers of London dealt in the occasional ballad', yet the scale of Jones's work in this area was exceptional. 10 Surviving records indicate that he ultimately registered, according to Watt's count, '164 separate titles…, not including 123 entered in 1586 which were listed on a sheet of paper now lost'.…”

“…The title page to the extant 1584 edition claims that it is comprised of 'sundrie new Sonets and delectable Histories, in divers kindes of Meeter' and boasts that these have been set 'to the newest tunes that are now in use, to be sung'. 19 Moreover, a poetical preface from 'The Printer to the Reader' identifies the volume's anticipated audience as 'You that in Musicke do delight' and suggests that its lyric contentswhich 'Ladies', in particular, 'may wel like' -are 'Songs' equally well suited 'to reade or heare' (3,14,20). has highlighted the striking rhetorical analogies between these two prefatory pieces, each of which, as she suggestively puts it, replicates the 'ballad seller's cry'.…”

“My Printer must, haue somwhat to his share”: Isabella Whitney, Richard Jones, and Crafting Books

“…He is now of interest to cultural bibliographers because of the way he articulated his role as a publisher and discriminating reader through the "virtually unrivalled amount of prefatory material" he wrote for the books he published. 10 Jones specialised in publishing and printing broadside ballads and small to median-sized books of vernacular poetry, including verse anthologies like A Handefull of Pleasant Delites, A Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inventions and Brittons Bowre of Delights. Poetry books were attractive to publishers because they sold reasonably well, with "a sufficientif not greatnumber of customers", and there was always a "steady supply of new material".…”