Description
Book SynopsisThe Oxford English Literary History is the new century''s definitive account of a rich and diverse literary heritage that stretches back for a millennium and more. Each of these thirteen groundbreaking volumes offers a leading scholar''s considered assessment of the authors, works, cultural traditions, events, and ideas that shaped the literary voices of their age. The series will enlighten and inspire not only everyone studying, teaching, and researching in English Literature, but all serious readers. This volume covers the period 1645-1714, and removes the traditional literary period labels and boundaries used in earlier studies to categorize the literary culture of late seventeenth-century England. It invites readers to explore the continuities and the literary innovations occurring during six turbulent decades, as English readers and writers lived through unprecedented events including a King tried and executed by Parliament and another exiled, the creation of the national entity '
Trade ReviewThe stated purpose of this interesting and useful book is to provide cultural contexts for the literature of the period. It often quotes obscure texts or explains important, familiar texts in unusual, illuminating ways...Ms. Ezell's breadth and depth of learning is often breathtaking. * Paula R. Backscheider, The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats *
The Later Seventeenth Century is exceptionally readable - clear, entertaining, and just a flat-out good read. * Paula R. Backscheider, Auburn University, The Scriblerian and the Kit-Cats *
The text is extremely polished and presents the needed information in a compact manner, addressing just the questions that I might not have even thought of yet, but that happen to inspire new ideas or potential new research streams. I highly recommend this book for all students and teachers of British literature, and I doubt anybody can seriously teach this subject without reading a few books like it. * Anna Faktorovich, Pennsylvania Literary Journal *
The most impressive aspect of this volume is the sheer range and diversity of literary texts and authors Ezell incorporates ... they succeed in highlighting the complexities of seventeenth-century cultural institutions from which a diverse range of readers, writers, and literary forms emerge. * Nathan Hunt, The Seventeenth Century *
Ezell's volume represents a considerable achievement ... it is written with unfailing concision and insight. * Review of English Studies *
Throughout the book is authoritative and amusing: Ezell exhibits an uncommonly keen eye for the deft quotation (by no means the usual chestnuts) and the telling anecdote, many of which will surprise and delight veteran students of the period as well as undergraduate aspirants. ... Summing up: highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * Choice *
Table of ContentsList of Figures Abbreviations A Note on the Texts A Preface to the Reader: Describing 'Literary Life' in the Mid- and Late Seventeenth Century 1. Ending the War, Creating a Commonwealth, and Surviving the Interregnum, 1645-1658 I: 1645 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Speech, and Performance, 1645-1658 III: Humphrey Moseley and London Literary Publishing: Making the Book, Image, and Word IV: Hearing, Speaking, Writing: Religious Discourse from the Pulpit, among Congregations, and from the Prophets V: Fiction and Adventure Narratives: Romantic Foreigners and Native Romances VI: Sociable Texts: Manuscript Circulation, Writers, and Readers in Britain and Abroad 2. The Return of the King, Restoration, and Innovation, 1659-1673 I: 1659-1660 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Speech, and Performance, 1660-1673 III: Renovating the Stage: Companies, Actresses, Repertoir, Theatre Innovations, and the Touring Companies IV: Enacting Libertinism: Court Performance and Literary Culture V: Creating Science: The Royal Society and the New Literatures of Science VI: 'Adventurous Song': Samuel Butler, Abraham Cowley, Katherine Philips, John Milton, and 1660s Verse 3. Reading and Writing for Profit and Delight, 1674 - 1684 I: 1674-1675 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Speech, and Performance, 1674-1684 III: Poets and the Politics of Patronage and Literary Criticism IV: Theatrical Entertainments Outside the London Commercial Playhouses: Smock Alley, Strollers, School Plays, and Private Performances V: Fictions: The Pilgrim's Progress, the New 'Novels', and Love and Erotica VI: Foreign Parts: English Readers and Foreign Lands and Culture 4. The End of the Century, Scripting Transitions, 1685-1699 I: 1685-1686 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Speech, and Performance, 1685-1699 III: Heard in the Street: Broadside Ballads IV: Seen on Stage: English Operas, the Female Wits, and the 'Reformed' Stage V: Debates between the Sexes: Satires, Advice, and Polemics 5. Writing the New Britain, 1700-1714 I: 1700 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Preaching, and Performance, 1700-1714 III: Kit-Cats and Scriblerians: Clubs, Wits, the Tatler, the Spectator, and The Memoirs of Martin Scriblerus IV: Booksellers and the Book Trade: John Dunton, Edmund Curll, Grub Street, and the Rise of Bernard Lintot V: 'The Great Business of Poetry': Poets, Pastoral, and Politics Appendix: Companion Volume: Table of Contents Bibliography Index
