A Weaver-Poet and the Plague

A Weaver-Poet and the Plague, volume 1, provides a compelling microhistory of seventeenth-century London through the life of William Muggins. An impoverished but literate weaver-poet, Muggins navigated a world of debt, imprisonment, and social upheaval during the plague of 1603. This historical work examines his move from the Poultry to the dense parish of St. Olave's in Southwark, where he composed his minor epic, London's Mourning Garment. The text explores how Muggins used his writing to articulate radical visions of a commonwealth built on labor and mutual aid.

Blending literary criticism and history, this volume reconstructs the social networks and radical religious influences surrounding Muggins. It offers a street-level view of the Tudor and Elizabethan era, focusing on the experiences of the middling sort rather than the elite. By analyzing Muggins's household and his poetic responses to poverty and disease, A Weaver-Poet and the Plague gives a voice to a class often overlooked in traditional Great Britain history.