William Alabaster

Paul Bembridge (University of Exeter)

Ed. by J A Roe, University of York
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

Born 27 Jan 1568
Died Apr 1640
Activity 1588-1640

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Until the twentieth century, the reputation of the poet and theologian, William Alabaster (1568-1640), rested almost entirely upon his published works in Latin. In his own time, he was principally known as the author of a cabbalistic work published in Antwerp in 1607, the Apparatus in revelationem Iesu Christi, and a prophetic work published in London in 1633, Ecce sponsus venit. For many years after his death, however, he was better known as a dramatist, the author of Roxana, a university play composed in Latin around 1592 and published in 1632, which earned him the praise of Thomas Fuller (Worthies, 1662) as “A most rare poet as any our age or nation hath produced”, a sentiment echoed by …

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2495 words

Citation: Bembridge, Paul. "William Alabaster". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 April 2018 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=57, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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