Queer Failure and Early Modern Books

ABSTRACT: This article brings together bibliography and queer theory to consider the significance of errors in early modern printed books. Particular attention is paid to the errata narratives that appear in many early modern books, explaining the presence of mistakes and often requesting that the reader correct the errors before proceeding. If bibliography has tended to be norm- setting, queer theory provides a corrective, and a more patient critical mode for considering how historians of the book and literary critics might respond to the various kinds of mistakes that were central to early print. The article builds, in particular, from recent critical work on queer bibliography by Malcolm Noble and Sarah Pyke.