Rachel Winchcombe, Lecturer in Early Modern History at the University of Manchester, is this year’s recipient of the Arthur Miller Journal Article Prize, for her piece in Renaissance Studies titled “Reprinting the Colonial Past: Compilation, Inter-Visuality, and Argumentative Strategy in John Smith’s Generall Historie of Virginia.”

The prize of £500 is awarded by the Arthur Miller Institute and the British Association for American Studies for the best journal length article on any American Studies topic.

The winning article examines Smith’s argumentative strategy, arguing that it is reliant on recasting the colonial past both textually and visually. In the article, Rachel demonstrates the productive power of print in the early modern period, illustrating how the Generall Historie provoked new ideas about Indigenous people, their character, and how they should be approached by English colonists.

In awarding the prize, the judging panel were particularly impressed by the interdisciplinary scope of the article, the quality of the argument, and the insight it provides into the development of ideas that are more often debated in relation to later American history.

Warm congratulations, Rachel!

The article is published open access and can be read here.

For more information on Rachel’s research, see this webpage.

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