Krislyn Zhorne

My dissertation explores a specific type of early modern paratext that was directed at consumers and commonly labeled “To the Reader,” which arose in England during the early sixteenth century. Although largely untitled at the outset, I argue that the inauguration of this device provoked a burgeoning tradition in print that diversified and eventually solidified by the end of the century. I not only examine the prominent discourses in and rhetoric of paratexts of this nature but also track the evolution of this type of preface and postface in both epistle and verse form.