ABSTRACT
Thiscomplexfigurationofauthorshipdidnotcomeeasilyforthe restless,improvident,aggressivestudentwhohadjustcomedown fromCambridgewhentheepistletoMenaphonwaspublished.During acareerwhosecentralprinciplehasbeencalled"constantinnovation"(Schwyzer1994:585),Nasheremainedambivalentabouthimselfandhiswriting.5InexploringNashe'sconceptionofauthorshipas ''labor,''Iwilldrawwidelyfromhiswritings,butwithspecialfocuson whatItaketobeadecisivepointinhiscareer:thepublicationofHave WithYoutoSaffron-Waldenin1596.IfocusonHaveVVithYoubecauseit isNashe'sonlybookthatdidnotrepresentaradicallynewdirection; insteaditreturnstohisprintedflytingmatchwithGabrielHarveyafter thetwoyearsofsilencethatfollowedthepublicationofStrangeNewes (1594).Bywritingasecondpolemicalbook,NashesolidifieshisreputationasHarvey'sscourge.6Hepointedlyrejectsthemutualapologies thatheandHarveyhad(nearly)madein1594-5,andhealsorefusesto extendrecentexperimentsinpicaresquefiction(TheUnfortunateTraveller,1594)andreligiouscritique(ChristsTearesouerJerusalem,1593). Heresumes,instead,theattacker'spose,claimingthathisnatural functionasauthoristoattackhisrival.7Thisconceptionofwritingas combatexploitstheintenselyphysicalrelationshipNasheseesbetween writing,printing,andhumanbodies.Booksareprostheticextensions oftheirauthors,sothatrefusingtowriteagainstHarveywouldmeanrefusingtoappearphysicallyinthepublicarena.Printedpolemicdraws togethertheinformalextemporalityNasheadmiresinGreene'sfiction andthepublicsolidityofprint.8Writingwithoutprintwoulddegenerateinto"thetradeofNouerint"(3:315)orscrivening,fromwhichfate thepressdeliversNashe.(Nashehabituallytreatedscriveners,whom healsocalls"baseInck-dropper[s]"[1:240],asfiguresofcontempt andrepresentativesofanold-fashionedstyleofwriting.) 9TheHarvey controversyisusefulbecauseitfacilitatesboththeflowofinkandthe
(1:343-4)
heau'ntoouershadowthefaireframe"(3:329),inlargepartbecause hislaborsaresounlikeSidney's.
