The Influence of John Donne: His Uncollected Seventeenth-Century Printed Verse

Abstract

The two books under review provide invaluable materials for both the Donne scholar and the student of seventeenth century intellectual history. In The Influence ofJohn Donne, Ernest Sullivan does precisely what his title and subtitle promise. He offers a comprehensive and meticulously described bibliography of all printed instances of Donne's poetry throughout the seventeenth century (including translations and adaptations) in publications other than the seven editions and issues of the collected Poems published between 1633 and 1669. And he provides an extensive discussion of the significance of the texts he has assembled and in considerable measure discovered. He identifies the range and extent of Donne's readership and