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John Ruskin and the Victorian Woman Writer addresses the little-considered personal and literary relationships of John Ruskin and four major Victorian women writers: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, George Eliot, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Christina Rossetti. Drawing on new archival, primary research, the book provides detailed biographical contexts for each of these relationships before considering the interplay of each woman's writing with Ruskin's. Focusing on literature, art, economics, and gender, it offers close readings of a selection of each woman's oeuvre alongside Ruskin's prose to demonstrate the affinities and the moments of disagreement between Ruskin and these writers. Though primarily aimed at an academic audience, the book will also be of interest to general readers with a developed interest in nineteenth-century culture. It advances readers'understandings of the complex web of influence that existed between Ruskin and women writers in the 1850s and 1860s, establishing the opportunities that Ruskin's art theory offered women writers engaged with social questions and the apparent influence of these writers on Ruskin's own emerging political economy. By analysing women writers'responses to Ruskin's work—and his response to theirs—this book complicates and challenges assumptions about Ruskin's supposedly troubled relationship with women.

Jane Austen and Lord Byron are often presented as opposites, but here they are together at last. In Regency England he was the first celebrity author while she was a parson's daughter writing anonymously. This book explores how their lives, interests, work and sense of humour often brought them within touching distance, and sets them side by side in the world of the Regency and Romantic period. Using some little-known sources and new research, it illustrates how they were distantly related by marriage; how they knew about each other even though they probably never met; the acquaintances they had in common and how their literary work often came close in subject-matter, approach, technique and tone.Engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, this book will inform and delight scholars and Austen and Byron fans alike, showing that these two great authors were closer than you might think, even in their own day.

National Book Critics Circle Award, Biographers International Organization Plutarch Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize FinalistNew York Times Book Review, Times Literary Supplement and The Guardian Best Books of 2016Thomas De Quincey was an obsessive. He was obsessed with Wordsworth and Coleridge, whose Lyrical Ballads provided the script to his life, and by the idea of sudden death. Running away from school to pursue the two poets, De Quincey insinuated himself into their world. Basing his sensibility on Wordsworth's and his character on Coleridge's, he forged a triangle of unusual psychological complexity.Aged twenty-four, De Quincey replaced Wordsworth as the tenant of Dove Cottage, the poet's former residence in Grasmere. In this idyllic spot he followed the reports of the notorious Ratcliffe Highway murders of 1811, when two families, including a baby, were butchered in their own homes. In his opium-soaked imagination the murderer became a poet while the poet became a murderer. Embedded in On Murder as One of the Fine Arts, De Quincey's brilliant series of essays, Frances Wilson finds the startling story of his relationships with Wordsworth and Coleridge.Opium was the making of De Quincey, allowing him to dissolve self-conflict, eliminate self-recrimination, and divest himself of guilt. Opium also allowed him to write, and under the pseudonym “The Opium-Eater” De Quincey emerged as the strangest and most original journalist of his age. His influence has been considerable. Poe became his double; Dostoevsky went into exile with Confessions of an English Opium-Eater in his pocket; and Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, George Orwell, Alfred Hitchcock, and Vladimir Nabokov were all De Quincey devotees. There have been other biographies of Thomas De Quincey, but Guilty Thing is the first to be animated by the spirit of De Quincey himself. Following the growth of his obsessions from seed to full flowering and tracing the ways they intertwined, Frances Wilson finds the master key to De Quincey's vast Piranesian mind. Unraveling a tale of hero worship and revenge, Guilty Thing brings the last of the Romantics roaring back to life and firmly establishes Wilson as one of our foremost contemporary biographers.

Lewis Carroll: Complete Novels presents a comprehensive collection of the visionary works of one of the most enigmatic figures in Victorian literature. This anthology includes the renowned tales of'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'and'Through the Looking-Glass,'alongside lesser-known writings that reflect Carroll's playful use of language, intricate wordplay, and profound philosophical inquiries. Through nonsensical narratives layered with social critique, Carroll invites readers into whimsical yet intellectually stimulating realms, notable for their richly imaginative landscapes and layered meanings that challenge conventional storytelling. His unique literary style, characterized by vivid imagery and rhythmic prose, has left an indelible mark on children's literature and fantasy as a genre, earning him a place among timeless literary greats. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was a mathematician, logician, and a pioneering figure in the field of literature for children. His deep fascination with language and logic, paired with his experiences as a lecturer at Oxford, inspired him to craft narratives that both entertain and provoke thought. His dual passions for mathematics and storytelling merge seamlessly in his works, reflecting a duality that brings a multifaceted richness to his narratives. For readers of all ages, Lewis Carroll: Complete Novels serves as an essential portal into a world of fantastical imagination and intellectual curiosity. It is a treasure trove for enthusiasts of classic literature, linguistics, and fantasy, beckoning readers to rediscover the profound whimsy and the complex themes interwoven into the fabric of Carroll's narratives.

In'Confessions of an English Opium-Eater,'Thomas De Quincey presents a pioneering exploration of the complexities of addiction through a vivid and introspective narrative style. This seminal work, published in 1821, not only captures the euphoric highs and harrowing lows of opium use but also delves into the philosophical implications of altered consciousness. De Quincey's lush prose blends autobiography with critical examination, situating his experiences within the Romantic literary tradition that often revered profound emotional and sensory experiences, even while grappling with the darker aspects of human existence. Thomas De Quincey, a significant figure in the Romantic movement, was profoundly influenced by his tumultuous life experiences, including profound loss and bouts of poverty. His growing dependence on opium, initially used to treat his physical ailments, transformed into a lifelong addiction that would inform much of his writing. De Quincey's work reflects not only his personal struggles but also the broader cultural attitudes towards opium and addiction during the early 19th century, making his insights relevant to both his time and ours. For readers interested in the intersections of literature, psychology, and philosophy,'Confessions of an English Opium-Eater'offers a compelling and insightful exploration of the human condition. This work invites readers to ponder the nature of pleasure, pain, and the intricate web of reality experienced through altered states, making it an enduring classic that resonates deeply with contemporary audiences.

Praeterita c'est l'autobiographie du grand écrivain anglais John Ruskin, que Proust disait connaître par coeur et qu'il avait d'ailleurs commencé à traduire en 1908, avant de partir À la recherche du temps perdu. Mais ce n'est pas seulement parce qu'il a inspiré Proust que ce texte de Ruskin — dont il n'existait qu'une traduction datant de 1911, très incomplète et pas toujours très exacte — mérite d'être lu aujourd'hui. C'est aussi parce que, comme l'écrivit Virginia Woolf, ce livre « contient, comme dans une cuillerée de thé, l'essence même de ces eaux dont jaillissaient les sources de son génie et que jamais une autobiographie ne nous laissa pénétrer dans l'intimité de l'expérience de son auteur avec plus de générosité ». C'est enfin, parce que, s'inscrivant dans la grande tradition littéraire européenne de l'écriture de soi, à côté de Montaigne, Goethe, Rousseau ou Sartre, Ruskin fait de sa dernière oeuvre un passionnant récit de formation. Ce récit raconte comment, en dépit de tous les déterminismes historiques, sociaux, familiaux, religieux, qui pesaient sur lui, s'est accomplie sa vocation d'écrivain pédagogue de la beauté. Il raconte comment il est devenu cet optical thinker qui ouvre la voie à toute la modernité artistique.

Emily Brontë's'The Complete Works'encapsulates the profound themes of nature, love, and isolation that permeate her poetry and the iconic novel'Wuthering Heights.'Brontë's literary style is marked by its brooding intensity and rich symbolism, showcasing her mastery of the English language. The collection presents a unique juxtaposition of her passionate, often turbulent writing and her keen insights into the human condition, all set against the windswept moors of Yorkshire. As a seminal figure in the Romantic movement, Brontë's works resonate deeply with the existential struggles of her characters and evoke the complexities of interpersonal relationships within a harsh, often unforgiving landscape. Born in 1818, Emily Brontë was the daughter of a Yorkshire clergyman and a member of a literary family that included her famous sisters, Charlotte and Anne. Her upbringing in a remote environment influenced her imaginative perspective and her exploration of themes such as identity, rebellion, and the supernatural. The austere beauty of the moors not only shaped her worldview but also served as a backdrop for her literary creations, making her voice distinctly original in the Victorian literary canon. I unequivocally recommend'The Complete Works'to any reader seeking to delve into the intricacies of 19th-century literature. This collection not only reveals the brilliance of Emily Brontë's contributions but also invites contemplation on universal themes that remain relevant today. It offers a rich tapestry of emotion and thought that captivates both the heart and intellect.

For Lewis Carroll, a deacon in the Church of England, faith in Christ and belief in a loving God stood at the core of his being, but little has been written about what the church or faith meant to the celebrated author of the Alice books. With Lewis Carroll: Formed by Faith, Charlie Lovett provides the first in-depth study of the religious life of the famous author, whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.By examining Dodgson's religious education and core beliefs, this book shows how a deep Christian faith undergirded and guided every part of his life and work, from his relationships with children to his renowned writings, his work on logic, even his hobbies of photography and theatre going. The book includes a detailed account of the career of Dodgson's father—an important figure in the Anglican church and a key influence on his son.Family records give insight into Charles's early education, and newly discovered manuscript materials paint a full picture of his religious education at Richmond and Rugby Schools. Lovett finds previously unknown influences in Dodgson's life, analyzes his habits of preaching and prayer, explores his training for confirmation and ordination, analyzes his reasons for eschewing the priesthood, and concludes with an account of his death and funeral and his logically constructed theology of the afterlife. The book makes use of previously untapped sources and highlights new material, including a previously unknown sermon by Dodgson, the first ever discovered. The result is a major contribution offering new perspectives on this creator of fantastical fiction and the spiritual bedrock that informed his life and imagination.

George W.M. Reynolds (1814–79) was one of the biggest-selling novelists of the Victorian era. He was the author of over 58 novels and short stories and his “penny blood” The Mysteries of London, serialised in weekly numbers between 1844 and 1848, sold over a million copies. A controversial figure in his lifetime, Reynolds's Mysteries, and its follow-up The Mysteries of the Court of London (1849–56), contained tales of crime, vice, and highly sexualised scenes. For this reason Charles Dickens remarked that Reynolds's name was one “with which no lady's, and no gentleman's, should be associated.” Yet Reynolds was much more than just a novelist; he was lauded by the working classes as their champion and campaigned for universal suffrage. To further the working classes'cause, he established two newspapers: Reynolds's Political Instructor and Reynolds's Weekly Newspaper. The latter newspaper, as Karl Marx recognized, became the principal organ of radical and labour politics. This book provides a biography of Reynolds and reproduces his editorials from Reynolds's Political Instructor as well as excerpts from his fiction.

Though Julia Wedgwood is still remembered as a commentator on the work of her uncle, Charles Darwin, and for her brief but intense friendship with Browning, her contemporary standing as a writer (“the thoughtful woman par excellence”) has been obscured as has her role in the pioneering days of women's higher education and the first campaigns for female suffrage. Based on her extensive correspondence and unusually wide-ranging work, this biography unites the private person and the public writer. It also looks at her many relationships with leading Victorian cultural figures including not only Darwin and Browning but George Eliot, Mrs Gaskell, Harriet Martineau, Frances Power Cobbe, F. D. Maurice, Richard Hutton, Arthur Munby and the young E. M. Forster. It considers the challenges facing a single, deaf Victorian woman in establishing her own independent, but unconventional, life.

A personal approach to Dickens's art that pays attention to what magnetizes Federico or strikes her as newly relevant to our own world, and to her life, as she explores what Dickens'works are emotionally about. Dickens's first concern in all his fiction is with people's feelings and their imaginations. Everything else--the social criticism, the satire, the comedy--flows from that spring. How does a person begin to imagine, to enter vividly into the life he or she has been given, and into the lives of others? How does someone change, how do they love, give their trust, look forward to the future? These questions make their way into all of Dickens's novels, including the four discussed in this contribution to the My Reading series: Oliver Twist (1837-39), David Copperfield (1849-50), Little Dorrit (1855-57), and A Tale of Two Cities (1859). Consistent with the aims of the series, this book takes a personal approach to Dickens's art. Federico follows her own responses, paying attention to what magnetizes her or strikes her as newly relevant to our own world, and to her life. What is the story emotionally about? This becomes the important question as she reads through Dickens's works. It is the question that opens the door to her own memories, her own stories, as she grows from being an innocent reader of Dickens to a more critical, professionalized one--while still listening confidentially to what Dickens has to teach her about hope, love, and the limits of knowledge.

An in-depth look into the life of Romantic essayist Charles Lamb and the legacy of his work A pioneer of urban Romanticism, essayist Charles Lamb (1775–1834) found inspiration in London's markets, theaters, prostitutes, and bookshops. He prized the city's literary scene, too, where he was a star wit. He counted among his admirers Mary Shelley, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. His friends valued in his conversation what distinguished his writing style: a highly original blend of irony, whimsy, and melancholy. Eric G. Wilson captures Lamb's strange charm in this meticulously researched and engagingly written biography. He demonstrates how Lamb's humor helped him cope with a life‑defining tragedy: in a fit of madness, his sister Mary murdered their mother. Arranging to care for her himself, Lamb saved her from the gallows. Delightful when sane, Mary became Charles's muse, and she collaborated with him on children's books. In exploring Mary's presence in Charles's darkly comical essays, Wilson also shows how Lamb reverberates in today's experimental literature.

Award-winning historian Antonia Fraser brilliantly portrays a courageous and compassionate woman who refused to be curbed by the personal and political constraints of her time.Caroline Norton dazzled nineteenth-century society with her vivacity, her intelligence, her poetry, and in her role as an artist's muse. After her marriage in 1828 to the MP George Norton, she continued to attract friends and admirers to her salon in Westminster, which included the young Disraeli. Most prominent among her admirers was the widowed Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne. Racked with jealousy, George Norton took the Prime Minister to court, suing him for damages on account of his'Criminal Conversation'(adultery) with Caroline. A dramatic trial followed. Despite the unexpected and sensational result—acquittal—Norton was still able to legally deny Caroline access to her three children, all under seven. He also claimed her income as an author for himself, since the copyrights of a married woman belonged to her husband. Yet Caroline refused to despair. Beset by the personal cruelties perpetrated by her husband and a society whose rules were set against her, she chose to fight, not surrender. She channeled her energies in an area of much-needed reform: the rights of a married woman and specifically those of a mother. Over the next few years she campaigned tirelessly, achieving her first landmark victory with the Infant Custody Act of 1839. Provisions which are now taken for granted, such as the right of a mother to have access to her own children, owe much to Caroline, who was determined to secure justice for women at all levels of society from the privileged to the dispossessed.

In'The Life and Legacy of Charles Dickens,'G. K. Chesterton offers a profound exploration of Dickens's impact on literature and society, blending biographical narrative with critical analysis. Chesterton employs a distinctive and engaging literary style that bridges humor and deep insight, encapsulating Dickens's multifaceted characters and the social issues of Victorian England. The book delves into the intricate tapestry of Dickens's life, emphasizing the interplay between his socio-political concerns and his rich storytelling, thereby elevating his legacy in the canon of English literature. G. K. Chesterton, a prolific writer and literary critic of the early 20th century, was deeply influenced by Dickens's exploration of morality and social justice. His own experiences working as a journalist and his keen observation of the human condition resonate throughout this work, as he celebrates Dickens not only as a literary giant but as a champion of the underprivileged. Chesterton's admiration for Dickens reflects his own belief in the power of narrative to enact social change, making this examination particularly poignant. This book is an essential read for those invested in the study of literature, offering a rich perspective that highlights Charles Dickens's enduring relevance. Readers will find in Chesterton's analysis a compelling argument for Dickens's role as a voice for the voiceless, encouraging reflection on the moral implications of literature in society today.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2023For readers of Prairie Fires and The Peabody Sisters, a fascinating, insightful biography of the most famous sister novelists before the Brontës. Before the Brontë sisters picked up their pens, or Jane Austen's heroines Elizabeth and Jane Bennet became household names, the literary world was celebrating a different pair of sisters: Jane and Anna Maria Porter. The Porters-exact contemporaries of Jane Austen-were brilliant, attractive, self-made single women of polite reputation who between them published 26 books and achieved global fame. They socialized among the rich and famous, tried to hide their family's considerable debt, and fell dramatically in and out of love. Their moving letters to each other confess every detail. Because the celebrity sisters expected their renown to live on, they preserved their papers, and the secrets they contained, for any biographers to come. But history hasn't been kind to the Porters. Credit for their literary invention was given to their childhood friend, Sir Walter Scott, who never publicly acknowledged the sisters'works as his inspiration. With Scott's more prolific publication and even greater fame, the Porter sisters gradually fell from the pinnacle of celebrity to eventual obscurity. Now, Professor Devoney Looser, a Guggenheim fellow in English Literature, sets out to re-introduce the world to the authors who cleared the way for Austen, Mary Shelley, and the Brontë sisters. Capturing the Porter sisters'incredible rise, from when Anna Maria published her first book at age 14 in 1793, through to Jane's fall from the pinnacle of fame in the Victorian era, and then to the auctioning off for a pittance of the family's massive archive, Sister Novelists is a groundbreaking and enthralling biography of two pioneering geniuses in historical fiction.

An immensely pleasurable biography of two interwoven, tragic figures: John Keats and F. Scott Fitzgerald In this radiant dual biography, Jonathan Bate explores the fascinating parallel lives of John Keats and F. Scott Fitzgerald, writers who worked separately—on different continents, a century apart, in distinct genres—but whose lives uncannily echoed. Not only was Fitzgerald profoundly influenced by Keats, titling Tender is the Night and other works from the poet's lines, but the two shared similar fates: both died young, loved to drink, were plagued by tuberculosis, were haunted by their first love, and wrote into a new decade of release, experimentation, and decadence. Both were outsiders and Romantics, longing for the past as they sped blazingly into the future. Using Plutarch's ancient model of “parallel lives,” Jonathan Bate recasts the inspired lives of two of the greatest and best-known Romantic writers. Commemorating both the bicentenary of Keats'death and the centenary of the Roaring Twenties, this is a moving exploration of literary influence.

Born in England in 1857, Agnes Mary Frances Robinson contributed to cultural and literary currents from nineteenth-century Victorianism to twentieth-century modernism; she was equally at home in London and Paris and prolific in both English and French. Yet Robinson remains an enigma on many levels.This literary biography integrates Robinson's unorthodox life with her development as a writer across genres. Best known for her poetry, Robinson was also a respected biographer, history writer, travel writer, and contributor of reviews and articles to the Times Literary Supplement for nearly forty years. She had a romantic friendship with the writer Vernon Lee and two happy – and celibate – marriages. Her salons in London and Paris were attended by major literary and artistic figures, and she counted amongst her friends Robert Browning, Oscar Wilde, John Addington Symonds, Gaston Paris, Ernest Renan, and Maurice Barrès.Reflecting a decade of research in international archives and family papers, A. Mary F. Robinson reveals the extraordinary woman behind the popular writer and critically acclaimed poet.

Father and Son is a memoir by poet Edmund Gosse, which he subtitled'a study of two temperaments.'The book describes Edmund's early years in a Plymouth Brethren home. His father, Philip Henry Gosse, was an influential, though largely self-taught, invertebrate zoologist and student of marine biology who, after his wife's death, took Edmund to live in Devon.

This is a political, cultural and intellectual biography of the neglected but important figure, Henry Redhead Yorke. A West Indian of African/British descent, born into a slave society but educated in Georgian England, he developed a complex identity to which politics was key. The most revolutionary radical in Britain between 1793-5, Yorke then recanted his radicalism and died a loyalist gentleman. This book raises important issues about the impact of'outsider'politics in England and the complexities of politicization and identity construction in the Atlantic World. It restores a forgotten black writer to his due place in history.

'Opium! Dread agent of unimaginable pleasure and pain!'A masterful memoir about addiction, Thomas De Quincey's Confessions is a literary tour-de-force and intimate portrayal of an opium eater's inner struggle. Written in poetic language that conveys the seductive power of the drug, this page-turning account pieces together an addict's highs and lows. It is both an imaginative description of opium-induced reverie and an urgent attempt to convey the dangers of dependency. The mind of an addict has never been captured so eloquently.

Created by the Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is now a world-renowned fictional detective who first appeared in print in 1887. Famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to adopt almost any disguise and his use of forensic science skills to solve difficult cases, the detective skills of Sherlock Holmes border on phenomenal. Since his creation in the late 19th century, Sherlock Holmes'character grew in popularity enormously and remains today a famous character in 21st century popular culture, along with Dr Watson of course. Tje Guinness World Records has consistently listed Sherlock Holmes as the most portrayed movie character with more than 70 different actors playing the part in over 200 films. This Little Book of Sherlock Holmes looks at the birth of the man, his habits and personality, his methods of detection and his influence on literature, right up to his place in our lives today, including museums, societies and the recent BBS series Sherlock, a thrilling, funny and fast-paced contemporary reimagining of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson's adventures in 21st century London.

“Inventing Edward Lear is an exceptional, valuable, original study, presenting new materials on aspects of Lear's life and work.”—Jenny Uglow, author of Mr. Lear and The Lunar MenEdward Lear wrote some of the best-loved poems in English, including “The Owl and the Pussycat,” but the father of nonsense was far more than a poet. He was a naturalist, a brilliant landscape painter, an experimental travel writer, and an accomplished composer. Sara Lodge presents the fullest account yet of Lear's passionate engagement in the intellectual, social, and cultural life of his times.Lear had a difficult start in life. He was epileptic, asthmatic, and depressive, but even as a child a consummate performer who projected himself into others'affections. He became, by John James Audubon's estimate, one of the greatest ornithological artists of the age. Queen Victoria—an admirer—chose him to be her painting teacher. He popularized the limerick, set Tennyson's verse to music, and opened fresh doors for children and adults to share fantasies of magical escape. Lodge draws on diaries, letters, and new archival sources to paint a vivid picture of Lear that explores his musical influences, his religious nonconformity, his relationship with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, and the connections between his scientific and artistic work. He invented himself as a character: awkward but funny, absurdly sympathetic. In Lodge's hands, Lear emerges as a dynamic and irreverent polymath whose conversation continues to draw us in.Inventing Edward Lear is an original and moving account of one of the most intriguing and creative of all Victorians.

George Meredith: The Life and Writing of an Alteregoist is not only a critical biography of the Victorian novelist and poet George Meredith but also a portrait of the novel in the later nineteenth century. Interweaving analysis of Meredith's novels and poems with discussion of his life, Richard Cronin focuses primarily on the books Meredith read and wrote—arguing that novels by the end of the nineteenth century were shaped as much by the reading as by the experience of their writers. Cronin places Meredith's novels in relation to the work of his contemporaries including Henry James, Thomas Hardy, and George Gissing. Organized thematically, the book explores Meredith's personal side—including his hostility to biography, his origins as the son of a tailor, his marriages—as well as his reading habits, and the prose style that is the most complete expression of his strange but compelling personality.

This, the first critical biography of Arthur Morrison (1863-1945), presents his East End writing as the counter-myth to the cultural production of the East End in late-Victorian realism. Morrison's works, particularly Tales of Mean Streets (1894) and A Child of the Jago (1896), are often discussed as epitomes of slum fictions of the 1890s as well as prime examples of nineteenth-century realism, but their complex contemporary reception reveals the intricate paradoxes involved in representing the turn-of-the-century city. Arthur Morrison and the East End examines how an understanding of the East End in the Victorian cultural imagination operates in Morrison's own writing. Engaging with the contemporary vogue for slum fiction, Morrison redressed accounts written by outsiders, positioning himself as uniquely knowledgeable about a place considered unknowable. His work provides a vigorous challenge to the fictionalised East End created by his predecessors, whilst also paying homage to Charles Dickens, George Gissing, Walter Besant and Guy de Maupassant. Examining the London sites which Morrison lived in and wrote about, this book is an excursion not into the Victorian East End, but into the fictions constructed around it.

A Sunday Times Best Book of the Year: The “informative and entertaining” first major biography of the trailblazing, controversial children's author (The Washington Post).Born in 1858, Edith Nesbit is today considered the first modern writer for children and the inventor of the children's adventure story. In The Life and Loves of E. Nesbit, award-winning biographer Eleanor Fitzsimons uncovers the little-known details of her life, introducing readers to the Fabian Society cofounder and fabulous socialite who hosted legendary parties and had admirers by the dozen, including George Bernard Shaw. Through Nesbit's letters and archival research, Fitzsimons reveals “E.” to have been a prolific lecturer and writer on socialism and shows how Nesbit incorporated these ideas into her writing, thereby influencing a generation of children—an aspect of her literary legacy never before examined. Fitzsimons's riveting biography brings new light to the life and works of this remarkable writer and woman. “Meticulous and invaluable…exceptionally illuminating and detailed.” —The Wall Street Journal“Fitzsimons handily reassembles the hundreds of intricate, idiosyncratic parts of the miraculous E. Nesbit machine.” —The New York Times Book Review“I've always loved the work of E. Nesbit—The Railway Children and Five Children and It are my favorites—but I knew nothing about the extraordinary, surprising life of this great figure in children's literature... so gripping that I read [it] in two days.” —Gretchen Rubin, #1 New York Times-bestsellingauthor of The Happiness Project“A charming, lively, and old-fashioned biography... highly readable.” —Publishers Weekly“A terrific book.” —Neil Gaiman

Ceci est une collection des histoires d'Oscar Wilde. Dans la contribution principale «Critique en tant qu'artiste», nous organisons un dialogue en plusieurs actes entre deux esthetes, dont l'un prononce des jugements complets sur toutes les ouvres d'art. L'intention principale de Wilde est ici de démontrer pourquoi la critique elle-meme est un processus de création aussi fructueux que, a son avis, un véritable art.

Confessions is a remarkable account of the pleasures and pains of worshipping at the'Church of Opium'. Thomas De Quincey consumed daily large quantities of laudanum (at the time a legal painkiller), and this autobiography of addiction hauntingly describes his surreal visions and hallucinatory nocturnal wanderings through London, along with the nightmares, despair and paranoia to which he became prey. The result is a work in which the effects of drugs and the nature of dreams, memory and imagination are seamlessly interwoven, describing in intimate detail the mind-altering pleasures and pains unique to opium. Confessions of an English Opium-Eater forged a link between artistic self-expression and addiction, paving the way for later generations of literary addicts from Baudelaire to James Frey, and anticipating psychoanalysis with its insights into the subconscious. (Goodreads)

A legal and readily available painkiller in the nineteenth century, laudanum was a source of both pleasure and pain for author Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859). After achieving overnight success with Confessions of an English Opium Eater, an impassioned account of his struggles with addiction, the author wrote the hypnotic prose poems of Suspiria de Profundis ('Sighs from the Depths'). Like Confessions, these short essays combined drug-induced visions with thought-provoking reflections on the nature of dreams, memory, and imagination. With these books, De Quincey inaugurated the genre of addiction literature, a tradition furthered by Charles Baudelaire, William S. Burroughs, and a growing number of modern writers. Suspiria de Profundis continues to influence contemporary artists with the best known of its psychological fantasies,'Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow,'which centers on myths related to the Roman goddess of childbirth and was the source for the classic 1977 horror film Suspiria and its 2018 remake.

A New York Times Notable Book of 2019A unique exploration of the life and work of Rudyard Kipling in Gilded Age America, from a celebrated scholar of American literature At the turn of the twentieth century, Rudyard Kipling towered over not just English literature but the entire literary world. At the height of his fame in 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, becoming its youngest winner. His influence on major figures—including Freud and William James—was pervasive and profound. But in recent decades Kipling's reputation has suffered a strange eclipse. Though his body of work still looms large, and his monumental poem “If—” is quoted and referenced by politicians, athletes, and ordinary readers alike, his unabashed imperialist views have come under increased scrutiny. In If, scholar Christopher Benfey brings this fascinating and complex writer to life and, for the first time, gives full attention to Kipling's intense engagement with the United States—a rarely discussed but critical piece of evidence in our understanding of this man and his enduring legacy. Benfey traces the writer's deep involvement with America over one crucial decade, from 1889 to 1899, when he lived for four years in Brattleboro, Vermont, and sought deliberately to turn himself into a specifically American writer. It was his most prodigious and creative period, as well as his happiest, during which he wrote The Jungle Book and Captains Courageous. Had a family dispute not forced his departure, Kipling almost certainly would have stayed. Leaving was the hardest thing he ever had to do, Kipling said. “There are only two places in the world where I want to live,” he lamented, “Bombay and Brattleboro. And I can't live in either.” In this fresh examination of Kipling, Benfey hangs a provocative “what if” over Kipling's American years and maps the imprint Kipling left on his adopted country as well as the imprint the country left on him. If proves there is relevance and magnificence to be found in Kipling's work.

According to Wikipedia:'Dorothy Mae Ann Wordsworth (25 December 1771 – 25 January 1855) was an English author, poet and diarist. She was the sister of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close for all of their lives. Dorothy did not set out to be an author, and her writings comprise only of a series of letters, diary entries and short stories.'

Oscar Wilde was a prominent Irish playwright and novelist in the late 19th century. With classics such as The Importance of Being Earnest and The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde remains one of the most widely read authors today. This edition of Intentions includes a table of contents.

‘The most dazzling biography of a female writer to have come my way for a decade…'– Financial Times‘To be savoured for its vivid and sympathetic recreation of the tragic life and brilliant times of the gifted Mary Shelley'– Times Literary Supplement ‘Brilliant and enthralling'– Independent On Sunday'Wonderfully vivid'– SpectatorThe definitive and richly woven biography of Mary Shelley, in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Frankenstein The creator of the world's most famous outsider became one herself... There is no more dramatic scene in literary history than the stormy night by Lake Geneva when Byron, Claire Clairmont, Polidori and the Shelleys met to talk of horror and the unexplained. From that emerged Frankenstein, a monster who has haunted imaginations for two hundred years. Miranda Seymour illustrates the rich and unexplored life of Mary Shelley. Everything from her childhood to her tempestuous relationship with Percy Shelley; Seymour brings to life the brilliant mind that created Frankenstein through unexplored and intriguing sources. The Mary Shelley we meet here is a woman we can engage with and understand. Her world, so rich in its settings and its cast of characters, seems drawn from a novel. She, at its centre, is flawed, brave, generous, and impetuous, a woman whose dark and brilliant imagination gave us a myth which seems ever more potent in our own era.

This is volume I of Francis A. Leyland's 1886 work “The Brontë Family”, a detailed investigation into the lives and works of the seminal English literary family. The Brontës were a famous literary family during the nineteenth century synonymous with the West Riding area of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848), and Anne (1820–1849), are now world-famous poets and novelists; and their father, Patrick Brontë (1777 – 1861), was also an author. Numerous novels produced by this family have since become classics of English literature. “The Brontë Family” constitutes a must-read for those with an interest in the work of the three sisters, and is not to be missed by students of English literature or its history. Contents include: “Early Circumstances Of The Brontës”, “Mrs. Brontë”, “The Rev. Patrick Brontë”, “The Girlhood Of The Brontë Sisters”, “Branwell's Boyhood”, “The Literary Tastes Of The Children”, “Youth”, etc. This volume offers fantastic insights into the people behind the literature, exploring their letters, relationships, friends, and more in wonderful detail. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this classic volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition for the enjoyment of literature lovers now and for years to come.

First published in 1883, this edition of the'Eminent Women Series'contains a fascinating biography of English writer Emily Brontë. A detailed and interesting insight into the life and mind Emily Brontë, this volume is not to be missed by lovers and students of English literature. Emily Jane Brontë (1818 – 1848), also known under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, was an English poet and novelist best known for her only novel and classic of English literature, “Wuthering Heights”. She was the third-oldest of the four Brontë siblings who survived into adulthood. Contents include: “List Of Authorities”, “Introduction”, “Parentage”, “Babyhood”, “Cowan's Bridge”, “Childhood”, “Going To School”, “Girlhood At Haworth”, “ In The Rue D'isabelle”, “A Retrospect”, “The Recall”, “The Prospectuses”, “Branwell's Fall”, “Writing Poetry”, “Troubles”, “‘Wuthering Heights:'Its Origin”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this classic volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition for the enjoyment of literature lovers now and for years to come.

This is volume II of Francis A. Leyland's 1886 work “The Brontë Family”, a detailed investigation into the lives and works of the seminal English literary family. The Brontës were a famous literary family during the nineteenth century synonymous with the West Riding area of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte (1816–1855), Emily (1818–1848), and Anne (1820–1849), are now world-famous poets and novelists; and their father, Patrick Brontë (1777 – 1861), was also an author. Numerous novels produced by this family have since become classics of English literature. Contents include: “Charlotte And Emily In Brussels”, “Other Poems”, “A Misplaced Attachment”, “'Branwell's Fall,'As Set Forth In The Biographies Of His Sisters”, “Branwell's Projected Novel”, “'Real Rest.'”, “The Sisters'Poems And Novels”, “Despondency”, “Branwell's Letters And Last Interview With Mr. Grundy”, etc. This volume offers fantastic insights into the people behind the literature, exploring their letters, relationships, friends, and more in wonderful detail. “The Brontë Family” constitutes a must-read for those with an interest in the work of the three sisters, and it is not to be missed by students of English literature or its history. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this classic volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition for the enjoyment of literature lovers now and for years to come.

Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish author who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of the nineteenth century. With classics such as Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Stevenson is still one of the most widely read authors today. This edition of Walter Raleigh's essay on Stevenson includes a table of contents.

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright, a talented writer, mixed with the leading figures of the literary scene in Georgian London; as an artist he exhibited at the Royal Academy, but he was also a profligate dandy and swindler. For 150 years he has also been damned as a murderer who poisoned three of his relations to pay his debts. New research has uncovered quite a different story about his extraordinary life.

In this tale of two writers, Nell Stevens interweaves her own life as a twenty-something graduate student with that of the English author, Elizabeth Gaskell. Although they are separated by more than 150 years, Nell finds herself drawn to the Victorian novelist by their shared experiences of unrequited love—Gaskell for an American critic she met in Rome, Nell for a soulful American screenwriter living in Paris. As Nell's romance founders and her passion for academia fails to materialize, she finds herself wondering if the indomitable Mrs. Gaskell might rescue her pursuit of love, family, and a writing career. Lively, witty, and impossible to put down, The Victorian and the Romantic is a moving chronicle of two women, each charting a way of life beyond the rules of her time.

Thomas De Quincey was an English writer best known for the long autobiographical essay Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. This edition includes a table of contents.

A collection of dialogues an essays, including The Decay of Lying; Pen, Pencil, and Poison; The Critic as Artist; and The Truth of Masks. According to Wikipedia:'Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854 - 1900) was an Irish playwright, novelist, poet, and author of short stories. Known for his barbed wit, he was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. As the result of a famous trial, he suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned for two years of hard labour after being convicted of the offence of'gross indecency.''

This volume offers a reappraisal of Wordsworth's and Coleridge's radical careers before their emergence as major poets. Updated, revised, and with new manuscript material, this expanded new edition responds to the most significant critical work on Wordsworth's and Coleridge's radical careers in the three decades since the book first appeared. Fresh material is drawn from newspapers and printed sources; the poetry of 1798 is given more detailed attention, and the critical debate surrounding new historicism is freshly appraised. A new introduction reflects on how the book was originally researched, offers new insights into the notorious Léonard Bourdon killings of 1793, and revisits John Thelwall's predicament in 1798. University politics, radical dissent, and first-hand experiences of Revolutionary France form the substance of the opening chapters. Wordsworth's and Coleridge's relations with William Godwin and John Thelwall are tracked in detail, and both poets are shown to have been closely connected with the London Corresponding Society. Godwin's diaries, now accessible in electronic form, have been drawn upon extensively to supplement the narrative of his intellectual influence. Offering a comparative perspective on the poets and their contemporaries, the book investigates the ways in which 1790s radicals coped with personal crisis, arrests, trumped-up charges, and prosecutions. Some fled the country, becoming refugees; others went underground, hiding away as inner émigrés. Against that backdrop, Wordsworth and Coleridge opted for a different revolution: they wrote poems that would change the way people thought.

Short biographical essay. According to Wikipedia:'Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson ( 1850 - 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of Neo-romanticism in English literature. He was the man who'seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins', as G. K. Chesterton put it. He was also greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Vladimir Nabokov, and J. M. Barrie. Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their definition of modernism. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the canon.'

Margaret Oliphant was a 19th century Scottish writer of historical fiction and supernatural tales. Oliphant was a very prolific author, having written over 100 books throughout her career. This edition of The Sisters Bronte includes a table of contents.

Elizabeth Branwell was born in Penzance in 1770, a member of a large and influential Cornish family of merchants and property owners. In 1821 her life changed forever when her sister Maria fell dangerously ill. Leaving her comfortable life behind, Elizabeth made the long journey north to a remote moorland village in Yorkshire to nurse her sister. After the death of Maria, Elizabeth assumed the role of second mother to her nephew and five nieces. She would never see Cornwall again, but instead dedicated her life to her new family: the Bronts of Haworth, to whom she was known as Aunt Branwell.In this first ever biography of Elizabeth Branwell, we see at last the huge impact she had on Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bront, as well as on her nephew Branwell Bront who spiralled out of control away from her calming influence. It was a legacy in Aunt Branwell's will that led directly to the Bront books we love today, but her influence on their lives and characters was equally important. As opposed to the stern aunt portrayed by Mrs. Gaskell in her biography of Charlotte Bront, we find a kind hearted woman who sacrificed everything for the children she came to love. This revealing book also looks at the Branwell family, and how their misfortunes mirrored that of the Bronts, and we find out what happened to the Bront cousin who emigrated to America, and in doing so uncover the closest living relatives to the Bront sisters today.

We know the facts of Mary Shelley's life in some detail—the death of her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, within days of her birth; the upbringing in the house of her father, William Godwin, in a house full of radical thinkers, poets, philosophers, and writers; her elopement, at the age of seventeen, with Percy Shelley; the years of peripatetic travel across Europe that followed. But there has been no literary biography written this century, and previous books have ignored the real person—what she actually thought and felt and why she did what she did—despite the fact that Mary and her group of second-generation Romantics were extremely interested in the psychological aspect of life.In this probing narrative, Fiona Sampson pursues Mary Shelley through her turbulent life, much as Victor Frankenstein tracked his monster across the arctic wastes. Sampson has written a book that finally answers the question of how it was that a nineteen-year-old came to write a novel so dark, mysterious, anguished, and psychologically astute that it continues to resonate two centuries later. No previous biographer has ever truly considered this question, let alone answered it.

Edmund Gosse was an English author and literary critic. Gosse also found fame as a translator of Henrik Ibsen's plays and he helped encourage the careers of James Joyce and W.B. Yeats. Gosse's most famous work is Father and Son, a biography he published in 1907. The book describes Gosse's early years after the death of his mother when his father took them to live in Devon. Gosse discusses how his strict and religious father rejected some of the new evolutionary theories of his day and how Gosse himself came to reject his father's religious beliefs. Father and Son is notable for being the first psychological biography ever written.

In an examination of his laudanum addiction and the dreams and visions the drug engendered, Thomas De Quincey lays bare the celestial pleasures and infernal lows of an existence dependent on “subtle and mighty opium”. At once moving and rhapsodic, and suffused with a poetic and lyrical beauty, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater hauntingly evokes frightful scenes and phantasmagorical night-time wanderings, while reality, dream and memory blur and intertwine in a nebulous and protean haze. Published anonymously in The London Magazine, the Confessions were an immediate success, and soon speculation was rife as to the identity of the mysterious Opium-Eater. The work, which introduced the literary world to De Quincey's unique “impassioned prose”, is now widely deemed to be De Quincey's masterpiece.

This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Brontë Family by Francis A. Leyland'from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of The Brontes'. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Brontes includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily.eBook features: • The complete unabridged text of ‘The Brontë Family by Francis A. Leyland'• Beautifully illustrated with images related to Brontes's works • Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook • Excellent formatting of the text Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles

Fast jeder kennt den Jahrhundertroman'Frankenstein', der mit seinem Erscheinen die Gattung der Gruselgeschichten revolutionierte. Doch wer war die Frau, die diese Figur erfand? Die junge Mary verliebt sich mit gerade einmal 16 Jahren in den Dichter Percy Shelley. Eine berührende, skandalträchtige und geistreiche Beziehung beginnt. Die Verliebten brennen gemeinsam durch. In illustrer Runde entsteht die Idee, eigene Schauergeschichten zu verfassen. Frankenstein wird geboren. Das Buch erscheint 1818 und erlangt Weltruhm, wird Vorlage für unzählige Verfilmungen und ist bis heute populär. Liebe und Horror: Barbara Sichtermann erzählt die spannende Geschichte einer inspirierenden, emanzipierten und starken Frau, die für die Liebe große Risiken eingeht und selbstbewusst ihren Traum vom Schreiben verfolgt.

British author Rudyard Kipling is well-known for his many novels, short stories, and poems in which he created a world teeming with unforgettable people, animals, and wisdom. The foundation of his literary career was laid in the gloomy house where his mother left him and his sister to be raised by strangers. Often locked in a moldy basement'playroom'to ponder his misdeeds, Kipling survived by concocting a fantasy life. Here, in this essay by award-winning journalist Robert Wernick, is Kipling's fascinating, surprising, and at times, tragic life story.