Guest Post: Rethinking ‘Idea-Capital’ and Co-Authorship as Counter-Canon in Early Modern Manuscript Culture

Collaboration, not solitary genius, shaped much of Early Modern literature. From the Devonshire Manuscript’s blended voices to the co-authored plays of Beaumont and Fletcher, these texts challenge our modern fixation on individual authorship. Rethinking co-authorship reveals hidden contributions, especially by women, and offers new ways to understand authorship, authority, and academic credit today.