Annotated Bibliography: English Censorship (before 1700)

This is one of my least favorite kinds of posts. I call this type "the assignment" post. Unique to a course based blog, this type of post is generally lacking flavor, swag, personality, d all of the above. However, despite my personal feelings about this post I am going to do it anyways for my grade and because someone out there might appreciate it. So here goes nothing. For more information on the assignment itself check here. Basically what follows is an annotated bibliography on the topic of censorship before 1700. The tale of how I found all of these books can be found at the bottom of the post, if you're here for entertainment value, or to grade, start there. The links lead to the GoodReads page for each book. (Which can also be a good starting place for research!) 

1. Patterson, Annabel M. Censorship and Interpretation: the Conditions of Writing and Reading in Early Modern England. Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin, 1984. Print.
 Patterson takes a unique approach to the history of censorship in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England. She guides the reader not so much through the legal history of censorship but case-studies that highlight self-censorship, and legal censorship, in relation to how works are interpreted, by their audiences and legal authorities. I enjoyed my brief reading of her book, and it is one of the few that I will probably keep and read more thoroughly. One of my reasons for this is that is is the most refered to work. 
2. Robertson, Randy. Censorship and Conflict in Seventeenth-century England: the Subtle Art of Division. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State UP, 2009. Print. 
Robertson takes a closer look at the legal history of censorship, particularly in the seventeenth century, which makes it a great reference for those of us reading books that reference legal events. I enjoyed Robertson's analytic style which included analysis of other's research and conclusions on the subject. He then takes this background looks to the reasoning behind the authorities moves. Ultimately leading to how written (printed) materials and other forms of knowledge lead to a changing legal system, despite it's objections. 
3.  Hadfield, Andrew, ed. Literature and Censorship in Renaissance England. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001. Print. 
Hadfield has compiled and edited a series of essays from those he describes as "central figures" in the debates on censorship. He divides the essays into three categories, Theatrical Censorship, Religious Censorship, and Political Censorship, each most specifically about the printed, or read, materials produced in each area. I highly recommend this as a starting point for any further research. It is a real source of excellent authors, to look into that have studied and debated this subject for years. 
4. Gillett, Charles R. Burned Books: Neglected Chapters in British History and Literature.Vol. 1. Westport, CT: Greenwood Pr., 1974. Print. 
Gillett presents and interesting history of early England and the books it burned. Relevant to the specific topic of censorship Gillett looks into book burning as both the ultimate censorship tool, and the martyrdom effect the burning of most copies of a book could have on its popularity, or more importantly, the effect on the ideas propagated by said book. He follows periods of English history, through the monarchs that ruled them, looking at which books the burnt and the ever interesting why. 
5. Myers, Robin, and Michael Harris, eds. Censorship & the Control of Print: in England and France 1600-1910. Winchester: St Paul's Bibliographies, 1992. Print. 
Robin and Harris have collected several essays that reflect on the changes in control of the printed medium and how that relates to the power of those controlling the medium. I found the first essay by Sheila Lambert particularly relevant considering both my subject and time period. Lambert references the works of others to analyse the practicality of legal methods of censorship and the real changes they brought about. Lambert is careful to cite all of her sources for differing opinions leading me to recommend this essay as another excellent starting place for research. Particularly for one looking at the effectiveness of censorship in early England. 
6. Hill, Christopher. The Collected Essays of Christopher Hill. Vol. 1. Amherst: University of Massachusetts, 1985. Print.
Hill's collection mostly focuses on the writing that has lead to several revolutions in the political system in early England. For my topic I found his essay called, "Censorship and English Literature", most relevant. Hill takes an interesting approach to the topic first looking, briefly, and the history of censorship, but then dissecting the effectiveness of the various monarchs and methods by studying the words not printed. He then concludes with a cursory preview of methods for evading the censor's hand. This essay provides a fascinating look at one view of censorship.

The story: 


 I began, where all digital age research assignments start,  at a computer and searched the library catalog for "censorship before 1700".  This combination returned no results but after a couple of "did you means" I came up with a search "censorhsip be for(e) 1700" that produced book or two. More importantly a general idea of where to begin looking/researching. It turns out that the fifth floor of the Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the humanities area and the section contains the books on writing/censorship in the time I was looking for. Unfortunately the only books I could read were those on England because they were the only ones written in English! (on the other hand this significantly helped narrow my topic of research)


 I first picked up the books that I had a found call numbers for.(1- 3) Then I browsed around on the neighboring shelves for a couple of more.  Satisfied that I had a decent number of books I found a seat (harder to do than I would have imagined for a Saturday afternoon in the humanities section) and flipped through the books. A brief look through the books helped me to determine to keep two (4-5) and return a couple of others. These are listed here:

• History of the Church and State of Scotland by Spottiswood
• Censorship of the Church of Rome by Putnam
• The Lutheran Movement in England by Jacobs
• Censorship by Adams
• Other Voices, Other Vows

I found (5) the most intriguing of these books and leading to a search of its index for frequently sited sources. So I headed to a nearby computer to look up the books. I admit that I am a child of the digital and don't actually know how to find a specific book with out searching the digital catalogue. There are however two important factors to take into account 1) I'm not sure the girl at the desk would have known how to help me without using her computer and 2) it was rather important that I show up to the pending volleyball match on time. After finding a couple of these books I ended up checking out just one (6). I didn't find the rest interesting enough to remember to write them down.

After I sat down to take a closer look at the books I had picked up I made an interesting discovery. Books (3) and (5) both refer to book (1) so I made that a priority. I also found the following YouTube video on the author of (1) an interesting addition to my research (despite its obvious non-printedness). For another non-printed source I recommend this blog post from a fellow classmate on the same broad subject of censorship. 

Further I am excited to take a closer look into some of my sources (1, 3, 5) to gain a broader understanding of this newly fascinating subject!