Here's a case where you are trying to re-create the thoughts of a literary figure and them tie them down to some point in social history. Most lit... [more]
Here's a case where you are trying to re-create the thoughts of a literary figure and them tie them down to some point in social history. Most literary historians don't think like that anymore. Read" Literary History" by M. Brown " Re-thinking Literary History" by Hutchenson and Valdez and then Is "Literary History "Possible by Perkins. Of course you'll need to make copious use of the indicies to focus on how, or by what method you are explicating the text--what is your goal? It sounds like you'll be doing a diachronic study, which spans a period in time, so obviously you'll want to have some idea of the literary canon of his circumstance. The effect of his thinking (reception) is probably the best way to approach the history part of literary history.
Sorry for the brief answer, but I have to get back to my own work.