The Cambridge Edition of the Correspondence of Daniel Defoe

Hardback

Main Details

Title The Cambridge Edition of the Correspondence of Daniel Defoe
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Daniel Defoe
Edited by Nicholas Seager
Associate editor Marc Mierowsky
Associate editor Andreas K. E. Mueller
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:1014
Dimensions(mm): Height 235,Width 158
Category/GenreLiterary studies - c 1500 to c 1800
ISBN/Barcode 9781107133099
ClassificationsDewey:823.5
Audience
Tertiary Education (US: College)

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 29 September 2022
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This comprehensive and authoritative edition of the correspondence of Daniel Defoe situates each letter in its biographical, literary, and historical contexts. A unique source for a turbulent period of British history, Defoe's correspondence spans topics including the first age of party marked by Tory and Whig rivalry, religious tensions between the Church and Dissenters, the uncertainty of the monarchical succession, the birth of Great Britain and its establishment as a global empire, and the use of the press to mould public opinion. As well as an introduction discussing Defoe's epistolary habits and the distinctive features of his letters, headnotes and annotations explain each document's occasion, beginning in 1703 with Defoe hunted by the government for sedition, and ending in 1730 with him again in hiding, fleeing creditors months before his death. The volume is illustrated with examples of Defoe's letters, offering a fresh window onto Defoe's manuscript habits.

Author Biography

Nicholas Seager is Head of the School of Humanities and Professor in English Literature at Keele University. He has published on literature of the long eighteenth century, including on Bunyan, Swift, Defoe, Haywood, Johnson, Sterne, Goldsmith, and Austen. He is co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of Daniel Defoe (2022).