Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons
Critics have discussed how John Donne’s writing responds to alchemy and to patronage, but none has examined how he draws parallels between the two frameworks. Donne sees both as convoluted, frustrating processes that rely on falseness. Comparing his praise to alchemical coins—the quality of which wa...
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| Format: | Article |
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Johns Hopkins University Press
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48507/ |
| _version_ | 1848797780206682112 |
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| author | Bumke, Alison |
| author_facet | Bumke, Alison |
| author_sort | Bumke, Alison |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Critics have discussed how John Donne’s writing responds to alchemy and to patronage, but none has examined how he draws parallels between the two frameworks. Donne sees both as convoluted, frustrating processes that rely on falseness. Comparing his praise to alchemical coins—the quality of which was considered dubious—he attempts to persuade patrons that his flattering epistles are nonetheless “currant” in possessing both social relevance and monetary value. Reading these letters alongside contemporary alchemical tracts, this article traces how Donne’s references to alchemy explore the complex relationships between verse and value in the Jacobean Court. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:09:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-48507 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:09:19Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Johns Hopkins University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-485072020-05-04T18:33:02Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48507/ Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons Bumke, Alison Critics have discussed how John Donne’s writing responds to alchemy and to patronage, but none has examined how he draws parallels between the two frameworks. Donne sees both as convoluted, frustrating processes that rely on falseness. Comparing his praise to alchemical coins—the quality of which was considered dubious—he attempts to persuade patrons that his flattering epistles are nonetheless “currant” in possessing both social relevance and monetary value. Reading these letters alongside contemporary alchemical tracts, this article traces how Donne’s references to alchemy explore the complex relationships between verse and value in the Jacobean Court. Johns Hopkins University Press 2017-02-28 Article PeerReviewed Bumke, Alison (2017) Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons. SEL Studies in English Literature, 57 (1). pp. 67-86. ISSN 1522-9270 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/648468 doi:10.1353/sel.2017.0003 doi:10.1353/sel.2017.0003 |
| spellingShingle | Bumke, Alison Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons |
| title | Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons |
| title_full | Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons |
| title_fullStr | Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons |
| title_short | Cures and currency in Donne’s letters to patrons |
| title_sort | cures and currency in donne’s letters to patrons |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48507/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48507/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48507/ |