The stigma of print is the concept that an informal
social convention
A convention is a set of agreed, stipulated, or generally accepted standards, norms, social norms, or criteria, often taking the form of a custom.
In a social context, a convention may retain the character of an "unwritten law" of custom (for ex ...
restricted the literary works of aristocrats in the
Tudor and
Jacobean age to private and courtly audiences — as opposed to commercial endeavors — at the risk of social disgrace if violated, and which obliged the author to profess an abhorrence of the press and to restrict his works from publication.
[Saunders, J. W. “The stigma of print: A note on the social bases of Tudor poetry” in Essays in Criticism 1 (1951) 139-164.] The stigma is usually confined to creative literature rather than to pious or scholarly works. It is assumed to apply especially to poetry and drama.
The concept was first popularised by Edward Arber in 1870.
[May, Steven]
"Tudor Aristocrats and the Mythical 'Stigma of Print'"
in ''Renaissance Papers'' (1980) 11-18. Arber wrote that "The Poets of that age, wrote for their own delectation and for that of their friends: and not for the general public. They generally had the greatest aversion to their works appearing in print.".
This was said to be linked to the ideal of the courtier promoted by
Baldassare Castiglione
Baldassare Castiglione, Count of Casatico (; 6 December 1478 – 2 February 1529),Dates of birth and death, and cause of the latter, fro, ''Italica'', Rai International online. was an Italian courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissanc ...
, who wrote that courtiers should keep their poetic work close, only circulating them among friends.
The argument was supported by statements from
George Puttenham
George Puttenham (1529–1590) was an English writer and literary critic. He is generally considered to be the author of the influential handbook on poetry and rhetoric, ''The Arte of English Poesie'' (1589).
Family and early life
Puttenham wa ...
regarding "courtly makers" who wrote poetry but who did not circulate it beyond a small circle of friends. Earlier aristocratic poets such as
Thomas Wyatt and
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), Order of the Garter, KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instan ...
had made no effort to have their works published; their poems only appeared in print after the authors' deaths. J.W. Saunders argued that for such poets publication was "an unimportant and somewhat discreditable aspect of authorship".
While there is good evidence that aristocratic authors often acted as though they were indifferent to print publication, a number of scholars have doubted that there was any stigma associated with it by the
Elizabethan age
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
. Saunders refers to the "unimportance of the printed-book audience" for such writers.
According to Ian Hamilton, the practice — if it existed — was honoured more in the breach than in the observance.
[Peacey, Jason. ''Politicians and Pamphleteers: Propaganda during the English Civil Wars and Interregnum''. Aldershot and Burlington, Ashgate (2004), p. 65.] Steven May argues that while there is almost no aristocratic publication of creative literature in the early Tudor period, the publication of poetry is fairly common in the reign of Elizabeth, indicating that there was little or no stigma attached to it by this period.
References
{{Reflist
Elizabethan era
Terms in literary theory