Episode 170: Printers, Plague and Poets

In this episode, we examine the connection between poetry and plague in the early 1590s. An outbreak of the recurring sickness contributed to Shakespeare’s early career as a poet, and that poetry likely included his many sonnets. We also examine how an old acquaintance from Shakespeare’s hometown emerged as one of the leading printers in London and how his print shop influenced the development of English during the Elizabethan period. Works discussed in this episode include: Defensative Against Plague Venus and Adonis – William Shakespeare Rape of Lucrece – William Shakespeare Orlando Furioso The Art of English Poesy – George Puttenham William Shakespeare’s Sonnets TRANSCRIPT: EPISODE 170

You can listen to Episode 170: Printers, Plague and Poets online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Episode 170: Printers, Plague and Poets is an episode from The History of English Podcast by Kevin Stroud.

This episode is 1:17:28 long.

This episode was published on Sep 5, 2023.

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