The Practical Renaissance: Information Culture and the Quest for Knowledge in Early Modern England, 1500-1640

What sort of information did people in early modern England seek? In The Practical Renaissance Donna Seger explores the diffusion and reception of prescriptive publications over the 16th and 17th centuries. Published in an age of dynamic religious and political change, these texts demonstrate the universal desire for health and wealth, a fortified body and an orderly household. Showing how classical and continental information had been "Englished" over time, this book shows how new publications supplanted these traditional ideas with more empirical and authoritative knowledge. Published in an age of dynamic religious and political change, these texts, which include plague tracts, husbandry handbooks, printed recipe books, and navigation manuals, demonstrate the universal desire for health and wealth, a fortified body and an orderly household. Divided into three parts, the opening chapters explore factors which affected the diffusion of practical knowledge via prescriptive texts. Part two focuses on the interaction between new discoveries and traditional authority, and the final section considers debates in the 'medical marketplace', the term 'knowledge-mongerer' and the commodification of knowledge at this time. A thorough exploration into the popular and pragmatic expressions of the period, The Practical Renaissance offers a new window into the movement in which knowledge and information became power.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Jewels Abound Part I (1500-1557): Diffusion Chapter 1: Regimens and Rules: The Rudiments of Health and Husbandry Chapter 2: Mathematics and Mensuration Part II (1558-1603): Discovery Chapter 3: Elizabethan Exploration and Experimentation: What's New a. Alchemy Assimilated b. New Lands, New Crops, New Cures, New Trees, New Foods c. Husbandry and Huswifery Chapter 4: The Navigators Part III: (1604-1640): Debate Chapter 5. The Plague and Public Health in Early Stuart London Chapter 6: The Knowledge-Mongers a. Gervase Markham and the Way to Get Wealth b. Ready Reckoning and Reference Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Donna A. Seger is Professor of History at Salem State University, USA

Review :
The Practical Renaissance is an ambitious survey of the terrain of practical knowledge in early modern England, as well as the diverse community of “knowledge-mongers” and readers that inhabited it. It will be of interest to historians and students who study any part of that terrain. This well written and well-argued work provides enough analysis to provide further avenues of research for the historian interested in the history of knowledge and information. ... Seger's thematic selection coupled with her clear presentation of evidence is sure to keep the attention and sate the interests of even the most ambitious and enthusiastic students. [This book] is interesting, well-written, well-conceived, covers a vast amount of material and numerous relevant subjects and fills a gap in the knowledge of many Renaissance scholars. [Donna A.] Seger's accessible and readable introduction will surely inspire further work: book historians might look more closely at patterns of reprinting and circulation … By bringing together this range of sources, and decisively defining “useful books” as a distinctive genre in print, [The Practical Renaissance] offers a helpful contribution to an expanded view of early modern literary and scientific cultures. While being a thoroughly-researched end in itself, Seger's study is also a valuable starting point for the study of how knowledge production and application fit within the wider social and cultural context of early modern England.