Description
Book SynopsisThe reputation of Frances Burney (1752-1840) was largely established with her first novel,
Evelina. Published anonymously in 1778, it is an epistolary account of a sheltered young woman's entrance into society and her experience of family. Its comedy ranges from the violent practical joking reminiscent of Smollett's fiction to witty repartee that influenced Austen.
The Broadview edition is based on the second edition of the novel (1779), which incorporates Burney's revisions and corrections. Its appendices include contemporary reviews of Evelina as well as eighteenth-century works on the family and on comedy
Trade Review“Longtime admirers of Frances Burney’s delightful eighteenth-century comedy of manners, Evelina, will no doubt rejoice in Broadview’s impressive new edition of the work, here ably introduced and annotated by Susan Kubica Howard. Readers new to the novel have a treat in store. Evelina remains, quite simply, the most accomplished and insouciant comic novel written by an Englishwoman before Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and coruscates anew in the handsome presentation it is given here.” — Terry Castle, Stanford University
“Susan Kubica Howard’s research is impressively detailed, yet accessibly presented so that the edition will serve both seasoned scholars in the field and readers who may be encountering Evelina for the first time.” — Audrey Bilger, Claremont McKenna College
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements
Introduction
Frances Burney: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text
Evelina
Introduction to Appendices
Appendix A: Contemporary Reviews
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London Review (February 1778)
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Monthly Review (April 1778)
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Westminster Magazine (June 1778)
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Gentleman’s Magazine (September
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Critical Review (September 1778)
Appendix B: Works on Family
- George Savile, Marquis of Halifax, The Lady’s New-Year’s-Gift
- William Fleetwood, The Relative Duties of Parentsand Children, Husbands and Wives. Masters andServants
- Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, “Correspondencewith her Granddaughter, Diana, Duchess of Bedford,1732-35”
- Samuel Richardson, Letters Written To and For ParticularFriends, on the Most Important Occasions
- [John Hill], On the Management and Education ofChildren
- Samuel Richardson, A Collection of the Moral andInstructive Sentiments, Maxims, Cautions, and Reflexions,Contained in the Histories of PAMELA, CLARISSA, and SIRCHARLES GRANDISON
- James Nelson, An Essay on the Government of Children
- Eliza Haywood, The Female Spectator
- Lady Sarah Pennington, An Unfortunate Mother’s Adviceto Her Absent Daughters
- “Portia” [pseud.], The Polite Lady
- Hester Mulso Chapone, Letters on the Improvement ofthe Mind
- Clara Reeve, Plans of Education
- Mrs. Bonhote, The Parental Monitor
- Thomas Gisborne, An Enquiry into the Duties of theFemale Sex
- Maria Edgeworth and Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Practical Education
- Francis Burney D’Arblay, Memoirs of Doctor Burney
Appendix C: Works on Comedy
- Anon., Pasquil’s Jests, Mixed with Mother Bunches Merriments
- Joseph Addison, The Spectator
- Anon., Scoggin’s Jests
- [John Mottley], Joe Miller’s Jest Book
- [Corbyn Morris], An Essay Towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, Humour, Raillery, Satire, and Ridicule
- Eliza Haywood, The Female Spectator
- Jane Collier, An Essay on the Art of IngeniouslyTormenting
- Christopher Anstey, The New Bath Guide
- [James Quin], Quin’s Jests
- Anon., An Essay on Laughter
- William Hazlitt, Lectures on the English Comic Writers
Select Bibliography
