Deficiency and Supplement: Perfecting the Prosthetic Text

Ralph Knevet’s 1635 A Supplement of The Faery Queene is a prosthetic (supplementary, “added-on”) in every way: not only does it supply supposedly missing parts of Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, but its historical allegory is defined by its additive qualities. The editorial challenges presented by Knevet’s prosthetic poem are typical of an important class of English literary works from this period. Their self-effacing historical situatedness undermines modern assumptions about the editor’s role in creating or maintaining value in an author or his/her work. Prosthesis, by contrast, emerges as a stimulating new paradigm for the editing of early modern literary works.