Early Works: 'Aesop's Fables', 'Letters Written to and for Particular Friends' and Other Works

Description

This is the first edition to assemble all of the earliest known works by Samuel Richardson (1689-1761), one of the most influential authors in the English tradition. Richardson's exercises in conduct-writing, religious controversialism, anti-theatrical polemic, occasional verse, literary criticism - and his popular and surprisingly revealing edition of Aesop's Fables - resonate throughout his later work while claiming ample legitimacy of their own. Readers familiar with only Pamela, Clarissa and Sir Charles Grandison will gain a fresh appreciation of the genesis of and the historical and cultural complexities at work in these famous novels, and readers new to Richardson will encounter an agile writer who invites closer consideration. A lengthy introduction situates the constituent works in Richardson's career as well as in the period more broadly, and the extensive textual apparatus records the bibliographical histories of the texts and their treatment by their present editor.

Alexander Pettit is Professor of English at the University of North Texas.

Praise for the Series: 'At last we are going to have a definitive edition of Samuel Richardson's works and correspondence, long overdue, for the writer who was the most influential novelist of the eighteenth century. This ambitious project, 25 volumes of his works and his most important literary correspondence - each volume entrusted to a respected scholar - will illuminate all areas of eighteenth-century studies for Richardson's oeuvre lights up the entire century.' Ruth Perry, Ann Fetter Friedlaender Professor of the Humanities and MacVicar Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Praise for the Series: 'At last, this most editorially neglected of great writers is getting the treatment that his works and correspondence deserve. Scholars are eager to get their hands on the first volumes of this complete Richardson, with authoritative texts and rich annotation prepared by a world-class team under Keymer and Sabor's leadership. This new edition marks an epoch in Richardson studies.' Jane Spencer, Professor of English, University of Exeter 'Excellent ...' The Times Literary Supplement