1st Edition
William Percy's Mahomet and His Heaven A Critical Edition
Edited By Matthew Dimmock
Copyright 2006
266 Pages
by
Routledge
266 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
William Percy's Mahomet and His Heaven (1601) is extraordinary. Not only is it the only early modern play purportedly based upon the Qur'an, but it is also the first to place the Prophet Muhammad on the stage. While there existed a remarkable range of texts concerning Islamic characters and themes in Renaissance England, from chronicles and pamphlets to popular drama, the publication of this... Read more
Contents: Introduction: Play and playwright; The Qu'ran, the Bible and religious polemic; Portraying 'Mahomet'; Alchemy and the occult; Unravelling the playscript: I. Textual history; II. Sources and performance; 'Strange and wayward'? A note on this edition. Mahomet and His Heaven; Textual variants; Explanatory notes to the play; Appendices; Bibliography; Index.
Biography
Dr Matthew Dimmock is Lecturer in English at the University of Sussex. His previous publications include New Turkes: Dramatizing Islam and the Ottomans in Early Modern England (Ashgate, 2005) and Cultural Encounters Between East and West, 1453-1699 (Cambridge Scholars Press, 2005), co-edited with Matthew Birchwood. He is currently working on a book-length study of the Prophet Muhammad in Christian thought and iconography.
'Matthew Dimmock's stated aim is to recover Mahomet and His Heaven "for any consideration of early English mythologies of Islam and the Prophet Muhammad". It is a task he performs admirably - his edition contributes to an important and growing field of scholarship. But theatre history, too, has seen significant development, and the play has much to offer on this front. Perhaps especially because it is unlikely to see production, scholarly attention to this text's exceptional focus on performance remains a necessary task.' Times Literary Supplement ’Dimmock's editorial skills are admirable. His introduction places the work in proper, historical, cultural and theological context. ... All things considered, the play is of paramount importance for any consideration of representations of Islam in the Renaissance, especially for those who want to look at the complexities of presenting Islam as a faith on the English stage.’ Modern Language Review ’Matthew Dimmock’s new edition of William Percy’s play Mahomet and His Heaven (1601) represents a crucial step in the rehabilitation of a significant seventeenth-century author. ... Dimmock duly makes use of Clayton Joseph Burns’s unpublished work on this very play. His new study is, nevertheless, the first scholarly edition of any of Percy’s works to appear in print. Reading both the play itself and the rich and stimulating scholarly apparatus supplied by the editor”including an introduction and explanatory notes spanning about sixty pages each”one can only wonder that the process has taken so long.’ Huntington Library Quarterly ’As with his influential study New Turkes, Dimmock’s critical and historical acumen make this valuable and timely book essential reading for students and scholars interested in understanding early modern imaginings of Islam.’ Sixteenth Century Journal
