Owen Feltham Critical Essay | Critical Essay by McCrea Hazlett

Critical Essay by McCrea Hazlett

SOURCE: Hazlett, McCrea. “‘New Frame and Various Composition’: Development in the Form of Owen Felltham's Resolves.” Modern Philology 51, no. 2 (November 1953): 93-101.

In the following essay, Hazlett analyzes the changing style and structure of various editions of the Resolves publishing during Felltham's lifetime, noting how the work moves from short, personal resolutions to longer, more persuasive essays.

Between 1623 (when the book was entered in the Stationer's Register) and 1709 there appeared twelve distinguishable editions or issues of Owen Felltham's Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political.¹ Four of these are of special interest: the undated and rare first edition, containing one hundred resolves; the second edition of 1628, in which a second century was added; the third edition (1628-29), in which the order of the two centuries was reversed, and so remained; and the “Eighth Impression” of 1661, into which Felltham incorporated a complete revision of his earliest pieces. Felltham's...
(read more)