ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author argues that scholars involved in the literary debate over the political and cultural location of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles—as a representation of a progressive or conservative use of history—have failed to account for the role of the illustrations to the first edition of the book.Annabel Patterson challenges PhyllisRackin's account of the unified historical narrative at least as it applies to Holinshed'sChronicles. Patterson performs a welcome service by reminding modern critics of the literary character of theChronicles. Her analysis also serves as a useful corrective to the view that the Chronicles were simply, like Edward Halle's Union of the two noble & illustre fameles of Lancaster & Yorke, the result of a motivated effort to reify Tudor historical myths. Patterson specifically identifies the vitality of Holinshed's anecdotes with literature as "[t]hey possess all the attributes of good fiction."Patterson's notion of "good fiction" recalls Kenneth Burke's definition of literature as "equipment for living.".