A history of eighteenth-century literature

Author / Creator

Gosse, Edmund, 1849-1928, author

Available as

Online

Summary

This work by Edmund Gosse was commissioned by Macmillan as the third volume in a series of literary histories, & published in 1889, when literary criticism was still a relatively new field of acade...

This work by Edmund Gosse was commissioned by Macmillan as the third volume in a series of literary histories, & published in 1889, when literary criticism was still a relatively new field of academic study. His earlier work had led to his appointment as Lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1884 & to a hugely popular American lecture tour that same year. An established poet, author & critic, Gosse had a loyal following within the literary establishment of Cambridge & London, despite lacking formal academic qualifications. His approach to analysis was through personal impressions, & discussions of the biographies as well as output of a wide range of writers from Dryden to Johnson. Reviewers noted his identification of the years 1660-1780 as being central to the beginnings of the novel & the concern to 'reform & regulate ordinary writing', & praised his comparison of English & Continental literature.

Show More