i did a bit of work on this before (and again thanks to the list members
who responded to me), and what I found is that there isn't much to find
(I'm happy to be corrected) beyond what is in Judson's biography of S (he
reprints a letter Elizabeth wrote, if I remember correctly). and I too
would strongly caution against using the Amoretti as a biographical
resource. sonnets = biography is a lingering piece of Romantic theories
about poetry and affect, and one called into question by the Victorians,
and ever since.
this is the footnote from an article I have coming out:
"Most of what is known about Elizabeth Boyle is synthesized in Judson
166-175, but see also Mary Anne Hutchinson’s entry for the "Boyle
family" in The Spenser Encyclopedia, ed. A.C. Hamilton et al (Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1990), 109, which also draws on Nicholas
Canny, The Upstart Earl: A Study of the Social and Mental World of Richard
Boyle First Earl of Cork 1566-1643 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1982). "
cw
Christopher Warley
Assistant Professor of English
Oakland University
248-370-2256
