Christopher Marlowe, Theatrical Commerce, and the Book Trade

Presenting the first exploration of Christopher Marlowe's complex place in the canon, this collection reads Marlowe's work against an extensive backdrop of repertory, publication, transmission, and reception. Wide-ranging and thoughtful chapters consider Marlowe's deliberate engagements with the stage and print culture, the agents and methods involved in the transmission of his work, and his cultural reception in the light of repertory and print evidence. With contributions from major international scholars, the volume considers all of Marlowe's oeuvre, offering illuminating approaches to his extended animation in theatre and print, from the putative theatrical debut of Tamburlaine in 1587 to the most current editions of his work.

Table of Contents:
To the reader David Scott Kastan; Introduction: booking Marlowe; Part I. Marlowe at Work: 1. Marlowe's Lucan: winding sheets and scattered leaves Sarah Wall-Randell; 2. Marlowe in repertory, 1587–1593 Roslyn L. Knutson; 3. Marlowe in miniature: Dido, Queen of Carthage and the children of the chapel repertory Eoin Price; 4. 'Then breath a while': compression, kinesis, and temporality in the Massacre at Paris Evelyn Tribble; 5. Alarums: Edward II and the staging of history Lucy Munro; 6. Doctor Faustus's leg Genevieve Love; Part II. Transmitting Marlowe: 7. Making Marlowe Adam G. Hooks; 8. Making a scene: or Tamburlaine the Great in print Claire M. L. Bourne; 9. Marlowe's early books: the Contention and a 'Marlowe effect' Peter Kirwan; 10. Richard Jones, Tamburlaine the Great, and the making (and re-making) of a serial play collection in the 1590s Tara L. Lyons; 11. Companionate publishing, literary publics, and the wit of epyllia: the early success of Hero and Leander András Kiséry; 12. Thomas Heywood and the publishing of The Jew of Malta Richard Dutton; Part III. Marlowe Received: 13. Allusions to Marlowe in printed plays, 1594 Tom Rutter; 14. The devil and Doctor Faustus Paul Menzer; 15. Booking Marlowe's plays David McInnis; 16. Marlowe's lost play: 'The Maiden's Holiday' Matthew Steggle; 17. 'The best of poets in that age': Christopher Marlowe's reputation in the century following his death in Deptford J. A. Downie; Appendix A. Transcription of John Newdigate II's summary of Edward II; Appendix B. Marlowe in print, 1590–1640; Appendix C. Marlowe's plays in performance, 1588–1640.

About the Author :
Kirk Melnikoff is Associate Professor of English at the University of North Carolina , Charlotte, is currently the President of the Marlowe Society of America, and was the 2013 co-winner of Calvin and Rose G. Hoffman Prize for a Distinguished Publication on Marlowe. He is the editor of Edward II: A Critical Reader (2016), has edited two volumes of essays on Marlowe's contemporary Robert Greene and is author of Elizabethan Publishing and the Makings of Literary Culture (forthcoming). Roslyn L. Knutson is Professor Emerita of English at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is author of The Repertory of Shakespeare's Company, 1594–1613 (1991), Playing Companies and Commerce in Shakespeare's Time (2001) and founder and co-editor of the Lost Plays Database.

Review :
'The seventeen short chapters cut quickly to the chase, and Melnikoff and Knutson have deftly edited the whole into an unusually coherent collection. Their book will encourage readers to think again about the models of literary influence which so dominate Marlowe studies, but which often operate through cloudy reference to mighty lines and overreaching heroes.' Adam Smyth, The Times Literary Supplement 'This voluminous collection of seventeen essays represents some of the latest and most authoritative voices in Marlowe studies. For the first time, Marlovian scholars collectively put Marlowe in the context of both early modern print culture and theatre history, initiating a new conversation that departs from traditional focuses on textual flaws, authorship, and Marlowe's role as a Shakespearean foil.' Yi Zhu, Renaissance and Reformation '… this collection shows that the most exciting work in Marlowe studies is taking place in textual and theatre studies. When the two are put together, as in this volume, the intersection is endlessly illuminating.' Laurie Maguire, Early Theatre Review