Conduct Literature for Women: 1500 To 1640 (Pt. 1) 6 Volume Set

For centuries, conduct books were among the commonest books to be found in households. As scholars in literary and cultural studies have recently begun to realize, they constitute a prime source for research into the emergence of modern notions of subjectivity and gender. While a great number of titles and editions were produced between the Renaissance and Victorian times, extant copies, particularly from the early modern periods, are rare. Many are only to be found in a few specialist libraries worldwide. Conduct literature aims at defining and prescribing the relative roles and duties of men and women in different ranks of life. Covering manners and morals, questions of household management and advice on what to read, children's education and the treatment of servants, dealing with fashion and leisure as well as with religious meditation and sexual conduct, conduct books in turn reflect and instigate shifts in the cultural perception of the modern individual. As is increasingly recognised, they thus have a great research interest for anyone reconstructing and exploring the cultural formation of national, class and gender identities. In particular, they reflect changing precepts of behaviour for men and women as conflicting religious ideologies and the rise of capitalism made their impact on the formation of civic society and the modern family unit. Wherever possible, the texts are reproduced in full, from a representative copy in their frequently long publishing history. The series lays the textual groundwork for future research into the impact of conduct literature on the development of fictional literature, and enables scholars to assess the historical interrelations of gender ideologies with other types of discourses, whether political or religious, literary or scientific.