The Oxford Handbook of John Donne presents the history of Donne studies and provides tools to orient scholarship in this field in the twenty-first century. Part I, which deteails research resources in Donne Studies and why they matter, emphasizes the heuristic and practical orientation of the book, examining prevailing assumptions and reviewing the specialized scholarly tools available. Part II, on Donne's genres, begins with an introduction that explores the significance and differentiation of the numerous genres in which Donne wrote, including discussion of the problems posed by his overlapping and bending of genres. Articles trace the conventions and histories of the genres concerned and study the ways in which Donne's works confirm how and why his ‘fresh invention’ illustrates his responses to the literary and non-literary contexts of their composition. Part III, which is about biographical and historical contexts, creates perspective on what is known about Donne's life; shows how his life and writings epitomized and affected important controversial issues of his day; and brings to bear on Donne studies some of the most stimulating and creative ideas developed in recent decades by historians of early modern England. In Part IV, problems of literary interpretation that have been traditionally and generally important in Donne Studies are introduced along with major critical debates affecting the reception of Donne from the seventh through to the twenty-first centuries.