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Richard Whitford's Work for Householders

Alexander da Costa, Hannah Lucas (Autoren)

Buch | Hardcover

160 Seiten

2026
Liverpool University Press (Verlag)
978-1-80596-736-1 (ISBN)

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Richard Whitford’s A Work for Householders was a runaway ‘bestseller’ in the early sixteenth-century. First published in 1530, it was the earliest printed English book to direct itself specifically to a middling sort of lay reader: ‘householders…or them that have the guiding or governance of any company’. It was published at least seven times in ten years, attracting readers by offering both spiritual guidance to the layman busily engaged with the world, and succinct practical advice on how to run a thrifty and harmonious household. It drew on the medieval tradition of the mixed life, offering sustenance to the (somewhat) spiritually ambitious layman, and in doing so sought to shore up the faith of those who might be drawn away from traditional belief by the emerging evangelical emphasis on the ordinary Christian’s importance. The text is thus an important work for understanding both lay spirituality and domestic life on the cusp of the Reformation. This edition makes this influential work available for the first time to modern readers in a readable format with extensive notes and preliminary chapters that situate the work in relation to contemporary pragmatic and religious works.

Alexander da Costa is Professor of Medieval Literature and Early Printed Books at the University of Cambridge. His work includes Marketing English Books (Oxford University Press 2020), and Reforming Printing (Oxford University Press 2012). Hannah Lucas is the Newby Trust Research Fellow at Newnham College, Cambridge. She works at the intersection of medieval religious literature, philosophy, and the medical humanities.

Introduction

I. Syon Abbey and Richard Whitford
Syon Abbey’s Printed Books
Richard Whitford
Early Editions of A Work for Householders

II. Household Spirituality
Educating the Laity
Domestic Devotion
The Mixed Life
Reformation Appeal

III. The Household and Household Works
Other Works for Householders
The Householder
The Housewife
Children
Servants
Household Works after the 1530s

Editorial Policy
Descriptions of Extant Editions

The Text

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Erscheint lt. Verlag	28.7.2026
Reihe/Serie	Exeter Medieval Texts and Studies
Zusatzinfo	3 Illustrations, black and white
Verlagsort	Liverpool
Sprache	englisch
Maße	163 x 239 mm
Themenwelt	Literatur ► Klassiker / Moderne Klassiker
	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Mittelalter
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
ISBN-10	1-80596-736-3 / 1805967363
ISBN-13	978-1-80596-736-1 / 9781805967361
Zustand	Neuware