The 18th century in Britain was a transition period for literature. Patronage, either by a benefactor or through subscription, lingered even as the publishing and bookselling industries developed. The practice of reviewing books became well established during the second half of the century, with the first periodical founded in 1749. For the literary scholar, these gradual changes mean that different search strategies are required to conduct research into primary and secondary source material across the era. Literary Research and the British Eighteenth Century addresses these unique challenges. It examines how the following all contribute to the richness of literary research for this era: book and periodical publishing; a growing literate society; dissemination of literature through salons, private societies, and coffee houses; the growing importance of book reviews; the explosion of publishing; and the burgeoning of primary source material available through new publishing and digital initiatives in the 21st century. This volume explores primary and secondary resources, including general literary research guides; union library catalogs; print and online bibliographies; scholarly journals; manuscripts and archives; 18th-century books, newspapers, and periodicals; contemporary reception; and electronic texts and journals, as well as Web resources. Each chapter addresses the research methods and tools best used to extract relevant information and compares and evaluates sources, making this book an invaluable guide to any literary scholar and student of the British eighteenth century.

First published in 1978, Reviewing before the Edinburgh is a study of English literary reviewing during the fifteen years before the founding in1802 of the Edinburgh Review, and an assessment of the reviewers’ achievement. The long introductory chapter describes the aims, methods, staffing, readership, influence, and development of the five important Reviews of the 1790s: the Monthly Review, Critical Review, English Review, Analytical Review, and British Critic. The author argues that this type of Review declined during the 19th century, not because of poor performance, but because the ambitious aim of comprehensive reviewing had become impossible to achieve. The remaining chapters discuss and evaluate the work of these Reviews, chiefly in the fields of poetry, fiction, and political and religious controversy. The book fills a gap in the literary and political history of the period; provides a compact summary of its review criticism; and gives a better perspective on both reviewers and reviewed in years that were unusually fertile in political controversy and literary experiment. It will be of interest to students of literature and history.

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The Routledge Companion to Romantic Women Writers overviews critical reception for Romantic women writers from their earliest periodical reviews through the most current scholarship and directs users to avenues of future research. It is divided into two parts.The first section offers topical discussions on the status of provincial poets, on women’s engagement in children’s literature, the relation of women writers to their religious backgrounds, the historical backgrounds to women’s orientalism, and their engagement in debates on slavery and abolition.The second part surveys the life and careers of individual women – some 47 in all with sections for biography, biographical resources, works, modern editions, archival holdings, critical reception, and avenues for further research. The final sections of each essay offer further guidance for researchers, including “Signatures” under which the author published, and a “List of Works” accompanied, whenever possible, with contemporary prices and publishing formats. To facilitate research, a robust “Works Cited” includes all texts mentioned or quoted in the essay.

The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling students and researchers to read for themselves, for example, comments on early performances of Shakespeare's plays, or reactions to the first publication of Jane Austen's novels. The carefully selected sources range from landmark essays in the history of criticism to journalism and contemporary opinion, and little published documentary material such as letters and diaries. Significant pieces of criticism from later periods are also included, in order to demonstrate the fluctuations in an author's reputation. Each volume contains an introduction to the writer's published works, a selected bibliography, and an index of works, authors and subjects. .

This set offers a representitive collection of the verse satire of the Romantic period, published between the mid-1780s and the mid-1830s. As well as two single-author volumes, from William Gifford and Thomas Moore, there is also a wealth of rare, unedited material.

This set offers a representitive collection of the verse satire of the Romantic period, published between the mid-1780s and the mid-1830s. As well as two single-author volumes, from William Gifford and Thomas Moore, there is also a wealth of rare, unedited material.