The Agreeable Variety In English Literature

“The pen has almost supplanted the needle, and ladies’ closets, formerly the shops of female baubles, are now turned into libraries of learned books” (M., J.). This quote, found in the title page of The Agreeable Variety: Being a Miscellaneous Collection, in Prose and Verse, from the Works of the most Celebrated Authors, exemplifies the book’s intended audience. During the Renaissance period, humanism was flourishing, and Europeans of means were able to focus not only on simply surviving but on improving their educations (Sewards). This attitude that valued knowledge as an important part of a person’s character opened new doors for women to improve their educations. Works of conduct literature such as The Agreeable Variety were meant to counsel …show more content…
Printed on paper, the novel has vertical lines of which can be seen on each leaf when they are held to the light. These lines confirm each sheet of paper originated as a large sheet folded into eight individual pages, otherwise known as an octavo (Howard). This means the printer was trying to conserve paper, and make a smaller-sized book. Each booklet of eight pages created a folio by being placed together and sewn. To ensure that none of the pages were placed in the wrong order, the first word of the next page appears printed on the bottom of the page preceding it. This helped the craftsman who assembled the book by making sure he did not confuse the page order when binding the final product. Furthermore, anyone needing to re-bind the book could use this tool served as a useful guide. Using paper, a cheaper alternative to parchment, allowed the book to be longer and therefore contain more value to its reader, making it worth more to a Renaissance …show more content…
This can be seen very clearly in The Agreeable Variety, as each passage in the book is headed by its author, and the topic of the lesson the reader should derive from each specific excerpt. The book’s format of small selections of famous texts allowed its curator to pick and choose which pieces she thought were valuable enough to be referenced on a daily basis for daily life and caring for the home. Since the table of contents in The Agreeable Variety is so detailed, any reader would be able to look up a specific passage if they were looking for guidance in a particular area of life. The ease of navigation also made conduct literature in the same format as The Agreeable Variety very good for writing sermons or letters in which one wanted to include a quote. The large selection of content in The Agreeable Variety also allows readers to choose from a standard essay, poetry, or a letter of correspondence. In a time where humanism was extremely popular, people of means were certainly looking to expand their wealth of knowledge and use it to their advantage when considering their social conduct (Sewards). With content from such well known authors as Milton, Shakespeare, and Sir Francis Bacon, as well as many religiously based writers, readers could trust the information given to them and apply it to their own way of