Ruth Samson Luborsky and the Emblematics of The Shepheardes Calender

Ruth Samson Luborsky opened our eyes to the emblematics of The Shepheardes Calender. Scant attention had been paid to what now seems obvious, namely that Spenser’s inaugural publication looks like a Renaissance emblem book. My essay traces the evolution of Luborsky’s argument over the years 1979–88, which expanded beyond her initial focus on the illustrations alone to encompass the eclogue-and-illustration units. The twelve monthly “eclogue units,” Luborsky asserted, allude to the word-and-image units seen in Andrea Alciato’s popular emblem books even as E.K.’s commentary alludes to the annotations incorporated in some Alciatian books. While the woodcuts in The Shepheardes Calender do not replicate the typical style of emblematic pictures, Luborsky nonetheless maintained that it was “Spenser’s emblem book,” and my essay explores the generative implications of this designation.