Literature in the Age of Celestial Discovery: From Copernicus to Flamsteed [Hardcover]

The reconfiguration and relinquishing of one's conviction in a world system long held to be finite required for many in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a compromise in one's beliefs and the biblical authority on which he or she had relied - and this did not come without serious and complex challenges. Advances in astronomy, such as the theories of Copernicus, the development of the telescope, and Galileo's discoveries and descriptions of the moon sparked intense debate in Early Modern literary discourse. The essays in this collection demonstrate that this discourse not only stimulated international discussion about lunar voyages and otherworldly habitation, but it also developed a political context in which these new discoveries and theories could correspond metaphorically to New World exploration and colonization, to socio-political unrest, and even to kingship and regicide.

Advances in astronomy such as the theories of Copernicus and the development of the telescope sparked a strong response within Early Modern literature. The essays in this collection show this discourse went on to develop a political context to discuss topics like New World exploration and even kingship and regicide, well into the 18th century.

Introduction, 'Faln Systemes and Dead Chim?ras'; Judy A. Hayden
1. Heliocentrism, Plurality of Worlds, and Ethics: Anton Francesco Doni and Giordano Bruno; Pietro Daniel Omodeo
2. Early Modern Space Travel and the English Man in the Moon; David Cressy
3. An English Renaissance Astronomy Club? Shakespeare, Observation,and the Cosmos; David H. Levy with Judy A. Hayden
4. To the Moon: Discovering the Comic in the Cosmic on the Early Modern English Stage; Gabrielle Sugar
5. Sailing to the Moon: Francis Bacon, Francis Godwin, and the First Science Fiction; Catherine Gimelli Martin
6. The Royal Society, Collective Vision, and Samuel Butler's 'The Elelcá