Spa Culture and Literature in England, 1500-1800

This edited collection aims at highlighting the various uses of water in sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth-century England, while exploring the tensions between those who praised the curative virtues of waters and those who rejected them for their supposedly harmful effects. Divided into three balanced sections, the collection includes contributions from renowned specialists of early modern culture and literature as well as rising young scholars as it seeks to establish a dialogue between different methodologies, and explain why the spa-related issues examined still resonate in today’s society.

Cet ouvrage vise à mettre en lumière les diverses utilisations de l’eau dans l’Angleterre des XVI^e, XVII^e et XVIII^e siècles, tout en explorant les tensions entre ceux qui louaient les vertus curatives des eaux et ceux qui les rejetaient pour leurs effets supposés néfastes.