Henry VIII in History, Historiography, and Literature.

This is a collection of twelve essays on wide-ranging historical and literary themes regarding Henry VIII. All but one are by scholars at German universities (about half from Dusseldorf) and all are written in English. The topics addressed include coronation poetry, Skelton's Magnyfycence, Henry's songs and love letters, Anglo-German relations, English and Scottish chronicles, Shakespeare's Henry VIII, Jonathan Swift's opinions concerning Henry, and the treatment of the king in film. The volume's editor, Uwe Baumann, has provided an introduction summarizing the essays and prepared two additional contributions himself: a discussion of the favorable estimation of Henry recorded by two minor Tudor writers, William Thomas and Ulpian Fulwell, and an assessment of representations of the king in modern historical fiction. He also includes an extensive bibliography, a chronology of Henry's reign, and over two dozen plates. There is no index.

This volume is in most respects a disappointment. The negligence of both editor and publisher is repeatedly apparent. A number of the essays bear the traits of apprentice work, belaboring small, obvious, or well-known points or omitting important secondary studies or editions. Others contain some interesting ideas, but are far too long for what they have to say. In several essays there are numerous awkward sentences; in some instances, meaning is unclear. Problems of this kind are likely attributable to these scholars' having written in a foreign language. Other faults, however, can only have resulted from the haste or inattentiveness of the editor.

Grammatical and typographical errors occur frequently in this book, and a number of the plates are inadequately identified or not identified at all. Baumann's introduction refers to all but one of the collection's twelve essays, this omission apparently inadvertent. The opening paragraphs of this introduction, moreover, recur in only slightly altered form at the opening of Baumann's essay on historical fiction. The editor acknowledges, with gratitude, the "painstaking" proofreading performed by his students.

So too, Peter Lang's reputation for unreliability as a scholarly publisher cannot be improved by its careless work in producing this volume. Although this book is expensive, it is cheaply made. The sewing in the binding of the review copy began to unravel after very little use. The typographical style seems substandard in several respects (e.g., leading, indention, and type size, especially for long quotations and footnotes), diminishing legibility. The print is much lighter on some pages than others. Several plates are of inexcusably and inexplicably poor quality.

It is regrettable that the various deficiencies of this collection will probably prevent the few fine essays it offers from garnering the attention they deserve. The best of these may be Theo Stemmler's rewarding analysis of Henry's love songs and the letters the king wrote to Anne Boleyn some twenty years afterwards. Stemmler reveals Henry's blunt and rigorous style as a songwriter, demonstrating how he sometimes transcends convention by introducing unexpected, autobiographical elements. Stemmler discovers surprising similarities between the songs and letters. He also treats the greater sexual explicitness of the later letters, as well as Henry's hypochondria and egoism.

Few of these essays, however, rise to Stemmler's standard. In the final paragraph of his introduction, Baumann remarks that "the editor is well aware of the extent to which this anthology is capable of improvement. This, however, is only natural in what is, strictly speaking, the literary history section of this omnibus volume" (15). This passage is one of many in this book in which a writer's meaning is not really clear. In truth, the deficiencies of this collection extend beyond the portions of it which treat literary themes. Nor is it "natural" that an editor and publisher, aware of at least some of the failings of the book, should have brought it to press without trying more concertedly to correct them. Strongly unfavorable judgments, such as this one, should help place this publisher on notice that the scholarly community will hold its offerings to higher standards.

Thomas J. Wyly BENTLEY COLLEGE