From: t.n.corns@bangor.ac.uk Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2000 9:01 AM To: milton-l@richmond.edu Subject: British Milton Seminar autumn meeting THE BRITISH MILTON SEMINAR BMS 22 AUTUMN MEETING, 2000 Saturday 7 October FINAL NOTICE Venue: In the Shakespeare Memorial Library, Birmingham City Library on Saturday 7 October 2000. There will be two sessions, from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm and from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm. In all there will be four papers with related discussions. Programme: (am) Neville Davies (Birmingham), 'Art shall meet Art: Milton, Dryden, and King Arthur'; Peter J. Kitson (Dundee), 'Milton among the Romantics': (pm) Joad Raymond (UEA), 'Milton and the Scottish origins of the explosion of print'; Thomas Corns (Bangor), 'Milton, Scots, and Presbyterians'. The Library is situated conveniently close both to New Street Station and to large carparks. A map of central Birmingham is available on request. The seminar is open to academic and related staff and to postgraduate students, so do please draw it to the attention of others who may be interested. Yours sincerely Thomas N. Corns Joint Convener --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ I shall/ shall not be attending BMS 22 on Saturday 7 October 2000 Name........................................................................ ............................................... Address..................................................................... ............................................... Please reply to Professor T N Corns, Dept of English, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2DG; els009@bangor.ac.uk From: John Leonard [jleonard@julian.uwo.ca] Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2000 10:35 AM To: milton-l@richmond.edu Subject: Re: Early modern breeding With characteristic modesty Louis Schwartz declines to mention his own splendid essay on churching in Milton's sonnet, published in MQ about seven years ago. His book on birthing in Milton is eagerly awaited. John Leonard -----Original Message----- From: Louis Schwartz To: milton-l@richmond.edu Date: August 10, 2000 6:55 AM Subject: Re: Early modern breeding >At 08:51 AM 08/08/2000 -0700, you wrote: > > > >The most recent in depth study of the subject of > >"breeding" (a word which we Americans prefer, however, > >to apply only to dogs) is by David Cressy. I don't > >have the book in front of me, but the title is > >something like "Birth, Marriage, and Death in Early > >Modern England." Lots of tables and charts and > >first-rate empirical research, although I find the > >interpretation of the data to be a little pedestrian. > >Perhaps someone out there with a copy at hand can give > >us the answer, if there is an answer. Birthrates > >varied considerably along class lines, and yet our > >evidence is best for the wealthy. > > > > > >Cressy's book (*Birth, Marriage, and Death: Ritual, Religion, and the >Life-Cycle in Tudor and Stuart England* (Oxford, 1997)) is very useful and >full of detail, but it doesn't directly address birth-rates. In his >discussion of breast-feeding he does cite McLaren's essay as well as >studies by John Knodel and Chris Wilson that deal with breast-feeding, >marital fertility, and population growth, but unless I'm missing something >(which is, of course, possible--it's big book) Cressy never actually >discusses the matters that might answer Alan's question. > >The book has a great chapter on Churchings, by the way, with a brief >reference to Milton's snide remark about the ceremony in *An Apology...* > > >Louis Schwartz > >======================================= >Louis Schwartz >English Department >University of Richmond >Richmond, VA 23173 > >(804) 289-8315 >lschwart@richmond.edu From: Louis Schwartz [lschwart@richmond.edu] Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2000 3:21 PM To: milton-l@richmond.edu Subject: Re: Early modern breeding At 08:51 AM 08/08/2000 -0700, you wrote: > >The most recent in depth study of the subject of >"breeding" (a word which we Americans prefer, however, >to apply only to dogs) is by David Cressy. I don't >have the book in front of me, but the title is >something like "Birth, Marriage, and Death in Early >Modern England." Lots of tables and charts and >first-rate empirical research, although I find the >interpretation of the data to be a little pedestrian. >Perhaps someone out there with a copy at hand can give >us the answer, if there is an answer. Birthrates >varied considerably along class lines, and yet our >evidence is best for the wealthy. > > Cressy's book (*Birth, Marriage, and Death: Ritual, Religion, and the Life-Cycle in Tudor and Stuart England* (Oxford, 1997)) is very useful and full of detail, but it doesn't directly address birth-rates. In his discussion of breast-feeding he does cite McLaren's essay as well as studies by John Knodel and Chris Wilson that deal with breast-feeding, marital fertility, and population growth, but unless I'm missing something (which is, of course, possible--it's big book) Cressy never actually discusses the matters that might answer Alan's question. The book has a great chapter on Churchings, by the way, with a brief reference to Milton's snide remark about the ceremony in *An Apology...* Louis Schwartz ======================================= Louis Schwartz English Department University of Richmond Richmond, VA 23173 (804) 289-8315 lschwart@richmond.edu