For those of us who mostly study literature, it’s easy to assume that everything written in the English Renaissance was a work of brilliant poetry or drama. In fact, artistic writing was the exception, and not the rule: throughout the period, works about religion, politics, and history were more widely published than poetry and literary fiction. During the years surrounding the English Civil War, roughly 1640-1660, publication spiked. However, most of these works were polemical pamphlets, made to convince the reader of particular political and religious points.
Today, scholars often refer to these pamphlets as making up “ephemeral print culture,” or a world of printed objects not made to last. Many pamphlets responded to things that had just happened. Some were transcriptions of speeches or sermons. Some were responses to other pamphlets, so that arguments could be carried out publicly, in the form of cheap print.
Early Modern England also saw the beginnings of the professional writer, someone akin to a journalist. Prior to this period, most writers made their living through a patron, or wealthy aristocrat who paid for them to write. The role gave stability, but it also restricted what someone could write about, because they always needed to be aware of their patron’s preferences. However, by the mid-seventeenth century, people began to write things to sell. Newspapers and pamphlets were consumer products, meant to appeal to a general audience, rather than a specific patron.
At the same time, print was pretty affordable, especially if you only wanted to produce a brief pamphlet. Many people published their thoughts out of political or religious passion, rather than a desire to make money. They paid for their own printing costs, and did not necessarily expect to recuperate them with sales. Passion clearly compels Milton’s writing in “Areopagitica.”
