SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900

Message from the Publisher and Executive Editor Logan D. Browning

With this issue our masthead reflects some significant changes at SEL. The most important change is the retirement of Robert L. (Bob) Patten as publisher and executive editor, after having served in that capacity and as editor for longer than anyone else in the history of the journal. Bob’s superb direction for thirty-one years without interruption and for an earlier term of five years saw the journal through difficult financial times, the establishment of its wonderfully beneficial relationship with The Johns Hopkins University Press, and the digitization of its entire print run in JSTOR and Project Muse. Most importantly, however, he has instilled in everyone associated with SEL an unconditional commitment to producing the most erudite, meticulous, and rigorous scholarship possible. His greatest legacy, from the perspective of the new editorial team at least, would be for readers who happen not to see the masthead to feel that he is still here at the helm. He will continue to influence the journal, now as editor emeritus, and will be called upon more often than he wishes for his wise counsel and recommendations.

The masthead also lists two new editors, each drawn from the Rice English Department, and each working to secure the best possible material for two of our annual issues. Joseph Campana is the new Editor for 1500–1659, and will be working with the Winter and Spring issue content. Alexander Regier is the new editor for 1660–1900, and will fulfill the same duties for our Summer and Autumn issues. This new arrangement harkens back to the earliest days of the journal, when Carroll Camden imagined having an individual editor for each of our issues. Fifty years on, our founder’s idea will come to at least partial fruition.