The Oxford Handbook of the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Edited by J. A. Downie

Oxford Handbooks

The first book professing to survey the eighteenth-century English novel in its entirety
Situates the canonical novels and novelists of the period against the background of the hundreds of other novels published during the 'long' eighteenth century
Addresses contextual issues relating to the emergence of the novel not considered by any previous study, including the book trade, the economics of culture, and the reading public
Thirty-four chapters written by a team of leading international scholars
Includes chapters addressing the relationship on the eighteenth-century English novel of continental novels and other related forms of writing such as the religious writings and travel literature

The Oxford Handbook of the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Edited by J. A. Downie

Description

Although the emergence of the English novel is generally regarded as an eighteenth-century phenomenon, this is the first book to be published professing to cover the 'eighteenth-century English novel' in its entirety. This Handbook surveys the development of the English novel during the 'long' eighteenth century-in other words, from the later seventeenth century right through to the first three decades of the nineteenth century when, with the publication of the novels of Jane Austen and Walter Scott, 'the novel' finally gained critical acceptance and assumed the position of cultural hegemony it enjoyed for over a century. By situating the novels of the period which are still read today against the background of the hundreds published between 1660 and 1830, this Handbook not only covers those 'masters and mistresses' of early prose fiction-such as Defoe, Richardson, Fielding, Sterne, Burney, Scott and Austen-who are still acknowledged to be seminal figures in the emergence and development of the English novel, but also the significant number of recently-rediscovered novelists who were popular in their own day. At the same time, its comprehensive coverage of cultural contexts not considered by any existing study, but which are central to the emergence of the novel, such as the book trade and the mechanics of book production, copyright and censorship, the growth of the reading public, the economics of culture both in London and in the provinces, and the re-printing of popular fiction after 1774, offers unique insight into the making of the English novel.

The Oxford Handbook of the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Edited by J. A. Downie

Oxford Handbooks

Preface
PART I: 1660-1770: FROM 'NOVELS' TO WHAT IS NOT YET 'THE NOVEL'
The economics of culture 1660-1770
1:The Book Trade at the Turn of the Eighteenth Century, Peter Hinds
2:Business of Fiction: Novel Publishing, 1695-1774, Michael F. Suarez, S. J.
3:Social Structure, Class, and Gender, 1660-1770, Pat Rogers
4:Making Publics and Making Novels: Post-Habermasian Perspectives, Brian Cowan
Influences on the early English novel
5:The Continental Influence on the Eighteenth-Century Novel: 'The English Improve What Others Invent', Walter L. Reed
6:Criss-crossing the Channel: The French Novel and English Translation, Gillian Dow
7:Religious Writings and the Early Novel, W. R. Owens
8:Travel Literature and the Early Novel, Cynthia Wall
9:Secret History, Politics, and the Early Novel, Rebecca Bullard
Early 'Novels' and Novelists
10:Restoration Fiction, Thomas Keymer
11:Testing the Market: Robinson Crusoe and After, David Oakleaf
12:Gulliver Effects, Clement Hawes
13:'Labours of the Press': The Response to Pamela , Peter Sabor
14:Samuel Richardson and the Epistolary Novel, John Dussinger
15:Henry Fielding and the Progress of Romance, Scott Black
16:Novels of the 1750s, Simon Dickie
17:'Tristram is the Fashion': Sterne, Shandyism, and the sentimental novel, Tim Parnell
Epilogue: The English Novel at the end of the 1760s, J. A. Downie
PART II: 1770-1832: THE MAKING OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL
Literary Production 1770-1832
18:The Book Trade 1770-1832, John Feather
19:The Rise of the Illustrated English Novel to 1832, Robert Folkenflik
Authors, readers, reviewers, and critics, 1770-1832
20:Social Structure, Class and Gender, 1770-1832, W. A. Speck
21:'Male' and 'Female' novels? Gendered Fictions and the Reading Public, 1770-1832, Barbara M. Benedict
22:Reviewing the Novel, Antonia Forster
23:'Ordering' Novels: Describing Prose Fiction, 1770-1832, Peter Garside
Novels and Novelists, 1770-1832
24:The Rise and Decline of the Epistolary Novel, 1770-1832, Ros Ballaster
25:Developments in Sentimental Fiction, Geoffrey Sill
26:Philosophical Fictions and 'Jacobin' Novels in the 1790s, Deirdre Shauna Lynch
27:The Anti-Jacobin Novel, M. O. Grenby
28:The Gothic Novel and the Lingering Appeal of Romance, David H. Richter
29:Novel and Empire, Markman Ellis
30:The Popular Novel 1790 to 1820, Gary Kelly
31:The Evangelical Novel, Lisa Wood
32:'Pictures of domestic Life in Country Villages': Jane Austen and the 'Realist' Novel, Jan Fergus
33:Authorizing the Novel: Walter Scott's Historical Fiction, Ina Ferris
34:Parody and Satire in the Novel, 1770-1832, Gary Dyer
Epilogue, J. A. Downie

The Oxford Handbook of the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Edited by J. A. Downie

Oxford Handbooks

Author Information

Edited by J. A. Downie, Professor of English, Goldsmiths, University of London

J. A. Downie is Professor of English at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Pro-Warden (Academic). The author of five monographs, he has also edited three collections of essays, as well as editions of Defoe's political and social writings for Pickering & Chatto's The Complete Works of Daniel Defoe. For many years he was the editor of the section of The Scriblerian devoted to Defoe and the Early Novelists. His most recent book is A Political Biography of Henry Fielding.

Contributors:

Ros Ballaster
Scott Black
Barbara M. Benedict
Rebecca Bullard
Brian Cowan
Simon Dickie
Gillian Dow
J. A. Downie
John Dussinger
Gary Dyer
Markman Ellis
John Feather
Jan Fergus
Ina Ferris
Robert Folkenflik
Antonia Forster
Peter Garside
M. O. Grenby
Clement Hawes
Peter Hinds
Gary Kelly
Thomas Keymer
Deirdre Shauna Lynch
David Oakleaf
W. R. Owens
Tim Parnell
Walter L. Reed
David H. Richter
Pat Rogers
Peter Sabor
Geoffrey Sill
W. A. Speck
Michael F. Suarez, S. J.
Cynthia Wall
Lisa Wood

The Oxford Handbook of the Eighteenth-Century Novel

Edited by J. A. Downie

Oxford Handbooks

Reviews and Awards

"As a vehicle for "critical and contextual commentary," the Handbook succeeds and occasionally even delights. Its two parts, divided chronologically pre- and post-1770, offer social, material, and literary context forsubsequent discussions of particular authors and genres." - Kristina Booker, University of Oklahoma, Eighteenth-Century Fiction

"An extremely helpful compendium of essays which both define and outline the major contextual factors outlining the development of the eighteenth-century novel ... Downie's collection primes both newcomers to the subject area and professional scholars, with accounts of the economic underpinnings of the production, illustration, selling, and reviewing of novels, as well as their intersection with religious writing, travel literature, political 'secret histories', philosophy and such sub-genres as the evangelical novel and the anti-Jacobin novel. The Handbook contains thirty-four chapters, and provides comprehensive coverage of the main genres, movements, and authors of our period ... Overall, the Oxford Handbook of the Eighteenth-Century Novel is an extremely helpful reference point for both scholars and undergraduates." - The Year's Work in English Studies

"[Several chapters] provide lively introductions to texts and debates while also putting forward a clear line of argument: just a few examples include Cynthia Wall on travel literature, Gillian Dow on cross-Channel relationships between France and England (which, despite its placement in the volume, covers the entire period to 1830), Antonia Forster on book reviews, and Scott Black on 'Henry Fielding and the Progress of Romance'." - Natasha Simonova, The BARS Review

"all these essays are brilliantly conceived and wonderfully executed. This volume is far better than what we usually think of when we think of the handbook genre. This makes for fascinating reading, and it would be a wonderful addition to any undergraduate class. Many of the essays have this added pedagogical function, and that is in part what makes this volume such a wonder. The other wonderful feature is the combined power of these works. It really feels as if we are getting the newest ideas and the supplest accounts of how novels functioned in eighteenth-century culture. This will be a book to treasure for some time to come." - George E. Haggerty, SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900