by Rachel Stenner I started editing Baldwin’s The Canticles or Balades of Salomon, phraselyke declared in Englysh Metres (1549) a couple of weeks ago. It is his first major poetic work but, unlike the later Mirror for Magistrates, there’s barely anything published on this book (though, ahem, look out for two essays I have in … Continue reading Introducing the Song of Songs
The First Printed English Sonnet (and not by Surrey or Wyatt)
I’m starting my first textual editing project, working with Professor Scott Lucas of The Citadel, on The Collected Literary Works of William Baldwin. And this is the first of a series of very brief blog posts I will write to introduce each of Baldwin's individual texts. There will be many threads I leave untied in … Continue reading The First Printed English Sonnet (and not by Surrey or Wyatt)
Editing William Baldwin
by Dr Rachel Stenner So, BTC's catnap lasted a little longer than planned, and this is a tiny note to update you on what is happening in Mouseslayer's world at the moment. The wonderful Professor Frances Babbage and I are working on a special edition of Textual Practice, which we hope will be out later … Continue reading Editing William Baldwin
Beware the Category: Human
Robert McKay I am a scholar of literature produced from the last third of the 20thcentury to the present. This is an era marked by world-changing discoveries about nonhuman animals’ intelligence, their rich capacities for feeling and embodied experience, their complex emotional and social lives, and the rights and human duties that many people recognise … Continue reading Beware the Category: Human
Beware the Cat at the RSC
In July we had the privilege of bringing the new stage adaptation of Beware the Cat to the RSC's The Other Place. With the help of an amazing RSC team, we were able to share Baldwin's story with a sold-out audience. Here is a sneak peak of Hugo Glendinning's wonderful photos. Hugo has also made … Continue reading Beware the Cat at the RSC
Putting the Cat on its feet: Baldwin’s ‘Beware the Cat’ and the process of stage adaptation
by Frances Babbage William Baldwin’s obscure sixteenth-century novel Beware the Cat is an improbable and distinctly challenging source for a dramatic adaptation. While the central storyline sounds rather promising – a curious scholar makes a potion that lets him understand the ‘secret language’ of cats! – at the level of accessibility, Baldwin is a very long … Continue reading Putting the Cat on its feet: Baldwin’s ‘Beware the Cat’ and the process of stage adaptation
Reading with Pictures
by Penny McCarthy I am an artist whose recent research examines the nature of artistic provenance in relation to the archive and makes extensive use of intricate pencil drawings, often focusing on the visual aspects of books and texts. For me, drawing functions as a mimetic practice: I make close copies from various sources such as … Continue reading Reading with Pictures
A brief history of literary cats
by Charlotte Potter In Beware the Cat, William Baldwin asks the provocative question of whether cats can talk and reason. But he wasn't alone in wondering this. For centuries, writers have been inspired by the mysterious nature of cats, and English literature is populated by many eloquent, maverick, felines. Here are five of the most … Continue reading A brief history of literary cats
Beware the Cat 