British Literature 1640-1789: An Anthology (Blackwell Anthologies)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1405119284 ISBN 13: 9781405119283

Publisher: Wiley–Blackwell, 2007

The third edition of this successful anthology is a thoroughly updated collection of historical literatures that span the period from the British Civil War to the French Revolution. Fully updated, this anthology retains the historical span and range of major and minor literatures that made the first two editions so successful Represents many texts in their entirety and in their earliest recoverable versions Includes longer selections from some writers too scantly represented in the previous edition including Equiano Mary Barber and Anne Wharton Additional works by major authors, including Pope s Eloisa to Abelard , and a portion of Lucy Hutchinson s Order in Disorder . Writers such as Abiezer Cope, John Armstrong, and Ephraim Chambers, have been restored from the first edition Includes new drama selections Added timelines, an alternative listing of contents by theme, and updated head notes make this volume especially accessible to beginning students

Product Description:

The third edition of this successful anthology is a thoroughly updated collection of historical literatures that span the period from the British Civil War to the French Revolution.

Review:

contains a wide range of expected work (or samples of it, like three books from Paradise Lost, Marvell s To His Coy Mistress , Blake s The Tyger and Burns s To a Mouse ) but also a representative selection of literature from women writers (the problematic of regarding literature by gender is itself of interest) and enough of a general context to give a coherent impression over a period often compartmentalized differently (say, into centuries).

The editor provides a helpful introduction with historical and cultural background. There is a select bibliography at the end, along with an index of titles and first lines. The editorial stance has been to modernize where necessary but not arbitrarily. Text and notes are well displayed on the page. A thematic index (gender, aesthetics, race/slavery, pastoral etc) is a useful feature. You get a lot for your money The paperback is sturdily–bound and should survive regular consultation. Looking across the period from the Civil War to Romanticism opens up perspectives unknown to silo–thinking by period, and it is a rich and varied period with more than a few things to delight and surprise.
Stuart Hannabuss, Gray′s School of Art, Aberdeen