Conclusion

Abstract

This short chapter summarizes the book’s major findings about the print publication of early modern English poetry. Between 1590 and 1660, the social form of the lyric was increasingly recognized as a literary genre worthy of preservation and careful reading. Stationers played an important, if often unacknowledged, role in delineating genres, addressing readers, defining poetic authorship, and assembling texts. Because these mediations have influenced our canons, texts, and histories, a fully historical formalism must account for both the literary content and material forms of printed editions. Doubtful Readers ultimately proposes a new methodology, and the chapter concludes with a call for further study.