Angel Day
Encyclopedia
Angel Day was an Elizabethan rhetoric
ian and scholar chiefly known for his The English Secretary
(1586), the first comprehensive epistolary manual to employ original English rather than classical models. The book belongs to the genre of instructional manuals, marketed for the growing business and middle classes of late 16th century England, and was extremely popular, going into as many as ten editions by 1635, and becoming the most influential correspondence manual of its time. Although his biography is poorly documented, entries on Day appear in both the original and the recently updated editions of the Dictionary of National Biography
.
Day's precise dates are not known, but an entry in the Stationer's Register shows that he was of an age to begin a trade by 1563, for on December 25 of that year he was apprenticed to the stationer Thomas Duxell. This would fix his date of birth sometime in the period 1546-50. He married Frauncis Warley on December 4, 1581.
The English Secretary was patronized by Day's literary associate, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
, to whom at least several of the editions (1586, 1592, 1595, 1599, 1607, 1614, 1621, 1625, and 1635) were dedicated.
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
ian and scholar chiefly known for his The English Secretary
The English Secretary
The English Secretary, by Angel Day, was the most important manual for the art of letter writing during the almost fifty years of its first ten + editions ....
(1586), the first comprehensive epistolary manual to employ original English rather than classical models. The book belongs to the genre of instructional manuals, marketed for the growing business and middle classes of late 16th century England, and was extremely popular, going into as many as ten editions by 1635, and becoming the most influential correspondence manual of its time. Although his biography is poorly documented, entries on Day appear in both the original and the recently updated editions of the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
.
Day's precise dates are not known, but an entry in the Stationer's Register shows that he was of an age to begin a trade by 1563, for on December 25 of that year he was apprenticed to the stationer Thomas Duxell. This would fix his date of birth sometime in the period 1546-50. He married Frauncis Warley on December 4, 1581.
The English Secretary was patronized by Day's literary associate, Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
, to whom at least several of the editions (1586, 1592, 1595, 1599, 1607, 1614, 1621, 1625, and 1635) were dedicated.