Samuel Richardson (1689–1761), renowned English novelist and master printer, was also a prolific letter writer. The Cambridge Edition of the Correspondence of Samuel Richardson is the first complete edition of his letters. These three volumes contain his correspondence, much of it published for the first time, with two fascinating women: Dorothy, Lady Bradshaigh (1705–85) and her sister Elizabeth, Lady Echlin (1704–82). Lady Bradshaigh was Richardson's most prolific and important correspondent, challenging him about a range of issues, literary and otherwise, including his intentions for Clarissa and Sir Charles Grandison, in an iconoclastic style. Lady Echlin lived in Ireland for much of her life and provided Richardson with information on Irish issues, including the Dublin editions of his novels. The scholarly apparatus in this volume furnishes a wealth of material about these women's lives and their milieu, affording many insights into eighteenth-century English and Irish social and literary history.
- The first scholarly edition of this important body of eighteenth-century correspondence, presented with a detailed commentary
- Richardson's letters to and from Lady Bradshaigh and Lady Echlin form a vital part of his collected correspondence, revealing much about his views on literature and eighteenth-century culture
- The substantial appendices include Lady Bradshaigh's marginalia on Sir Charles Grandison, which are transcribed here for the first time
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Reviews & endorsements
'Thomas Keymer and Peter Sabor's magnificent 12-volume edition of the correspondence, three volumes of which, edited by Sabor, collect Richardson's letters with Bradshaigh. Their pages represent an extraordinary amount of work - in sorting through and piecing together the muddle of manuscript correspondence, handling Barbauld's editorial interventions, restoring obliterated passages, redating letters and decoding Bradshaigh's often eccentric spelling. The annotation is precise and sympathetic; the volumes are beautifully presented.' Clare Bucknell, The Times Literary Supplement
'It is difficult to overstate the importance of the multi-volume Cambridge Edition of the Correspondence of Samuel Richardson. For the Richardson scholar, the collection, in toto, provides unparalleled insights into the candid, often surprising views of the novelist and voluminous letter-writer … the material in the letters - which ranges from musings on the politics of Hanoverian and French lace to Lady Bradshaigh's detailed guide to managing servants - seems not just 'important' but at times revelatory. That dimension, along with the insights into Richardson and eighteenth-century literary culture make the volumes an essential resource not only for scholars of the author but for scholars of the period generally. In sum, this three-volume set is a model edition-from the detailed introduction that addresses editorial challenges to meticulous annotation and rich appendices.' Catherine Ingrassia, The Scriblerian
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Product details
- Date Published: November 2016
- format: Multiple copy pack
- isbn: 9781107145528
- length: 1200 pages
- dimensions: 23 x 158 x 67 mm
- weight: 2.3kg
- contains: 4 b/w illus.
- availability: In stock
Table of Contents
General editors' preface
Acknowledgements
Chronology
List of abbreviations
General introduction
Volume 1: Richardson's correspondence with Lady Bradshaigh and Lady Echlin, 1748–53
Volume 2: Richardson's correspondence with Lady Bradshaigh and Lady Echlin, 1754–7
Volume 3: Richardson's correspondence with Lady Bradshaigh and Lady Echlin, 1758–62
Appendices:
1. Lady Bradshaigh's and Samuel Richardson's commentary on Clarissa
2. Lady Bradshaigh's and Samuel Richardson's commentary on Sir Charles Grandison, Volume 7
3. Lady Echlin's alternative ending for Clarissa
Index.
Author
Samuel Richardson
Editor
Peter Sabor, McGill University, Montréal
Peter Sabor is Director of the Burney Centre and Canada Research Chair in Eighteenth-Century Studies at McGill University. He is a past president of the Canadian Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is co-General Editor of The Cambridge Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Samuel Richardson, which is in progress. His many publications on Richardson include Pamela in the Marketplace: Literary Controversy and Print Culture in Eighteenth-Century Britain and Ireland, co-authored with Thomas Keymer (Cambridge, 2005).