Political Broadside Ballads of Seventeenth-Century England:
A Critical Bibliography
Angela J McShane
978 1 84893 014 8: 234x156mm: £150.00/$260.00
Political broadsides are a fascinating window on to the tumultuous political and cultural landscape of the seventeenth century. By turns propagandist or satirical, these printed songs informed and reflected the views of the broader political nation. They took as their subject matter political heroes and villains, war and peace, and the divisions and harmonies of the Civil War, the Interregnum, the Restoration, the Popish Plot, the Exclusion Crisis and the Glorious Revolution.
This is the first accurate bibliography of its kind providing correct publication dates for many of the texts for the first time, as well as contextualizing notes throughout. The edition will be essential for scholars of seventeenth-century political and social history.
- first comprehensive listing of all extant broadside ballads
- makes the crucial connection between cultural, literary and material aspects (content, style, typography, imagery, the working of the market) and popular politics
- provides a vital and previously untapped source for understanding popular political consciousness of the time
- offers the unique chance to compare and contrast all the ballad-sheets that were produced at the same time