About the Project This project grew out of course projects from the 1999 and 2000 sections of English Literature of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries at Valparaiso University. In order to further acquaint themselves with early modern letters, students in the course selected early modern texts that complemented texts that we had already read along the following lines of inquiry:
Working, in most cases, from microfilm or online copies of texts indexed the Pollard and Redgrave Short-Title Catalogue of Books in English from 1485 to 1640, students selected excerpts from the texts and converted them to hypertext markup language. Working, in most cases, in groups, students then researched, annotated, and introduced the texts, putting footnotes in hypertextual format and linking to related images, sources, and so forth on the web. The resulting project thus creates a new text: an anthology, of sorts, of material in the public domain with original introductions and notes. We hope that the project will be of interest to others who read and are intrigued by early modern letters. Excerpts that appear in the Early Modern Text Project have been amended for accuracy and uniformity of appearance, and in some cases, feature updated Works Cited lists and links to related material. Frontpage design by John Paul Avila. |