British Historical Fiction before Scott PDF
Preview British Historical Fiction before Scott
Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print General Editors: Professor Anne K. Mellor and Professor Clifford Siskin Editorial Board: Isobel Armstrong, Birkbeck; John Bender, Stanford; Alan Bewell, Toronto; Peter de Bolla, Cambridge; Robert Miles, Stirling; Claudia L. Johnson, Princeton; Saree Makdisi, UCLA; Felicity Nussbaum, UCLA; Mary Poovey, NYU; Janet Todd, Glasgow Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print will feature work that does not fit comfortably within established boundaries – whether between periods or between disciplines. Uniquely, it will combine efforts to engage the power and materiality of print with explorations of gender, race, and class. By attending as well to intersections of literature with the visual arts, medicine, law, and science, the series will enable a large-scale rethinking of the origins of modernity. Titles include: Scott Black OF ESSAYS AND READING IN EARLY MODERN BRITAIN Claire Brock THE FEMINIZATION OF FAME, 1750–1830 Brycchan Carey BRITISH ABOLITIONISM AND THE RHETORIC OF SENSIBILITY Writing, Sentiment, and Slavery, 1760–1807 E. J. Clery THE FEMINIZATION DEBATE IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND Literature, Commerce and Luxury Adriana Craciun BRITISH WOMEN WRITERS AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Citizens of the World Peter de Bolla, Nigel Leask and David Simpson (editors) LAND, NATION AND CULTURE, 1740–1840 Thinking the Republic of Taste Elizabeth Eger BLUESTOCKINGS Women of Reason from Enlightenment to Romanticism Ina Ferris and Paul Keen (editors) BOOKISH HISTORIES Books, Literature, and Commercial Modernity, 1700–1900 Ian Haywood BLOODY ROMANTICISM Spectacular Violence and the Politics of Representation, 1776–1832 Anthony S. Jarrells BRITAIN’S BLOODLESS REVOLUTIONS 1688 and the Romantic Reform of Literature Michelle Levy FAMILY AUTHORSHIP AND ROMANTIC PRINT CULTURE Robert Miles ROMANTIC MISFITS Tom Mole BYRON’S ROMANTIC CELEBRITY Industrial Culture and the Hermeneutic of Intimacy Nicola Parsons READING GOSSIP IN EARLY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLAND Erik Simpson LITERARY MINSTRELSY, 1770–1830 Minstrels and Improvisers in British, Irish and American Literature Anne H. Stevens BRITISH HISTORICAL FICTION BEFORE SCOTT Mary Waters BRITISH WOMEN WRITERS AND THE PROFESSION OF LITERARY CRITICISM, 1789–1832 Esther Wohlgemut ROMANTIC COSMOPOLITANISM David Worrall THE POLITICS OF ROMANTIC THEATRICALITY, 1787–1832 The Road to the Stage Palgrave Studies in the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Cultures of Print Series Standing Order ISBN 978–1–4039–3408–6 hardback 978–1–4039–3409–3 paperback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and one of the ISBNs quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England British Historical Fiction before Scott Anne H. Stevens © Anne H. Stevens 2010 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-24629-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-31945-9 ISBN 978-0-230-27530-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230275300 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stevens, Anne H., 1971– British historical fiction before Scott / Anne H. Stevens. p. cm.—(P algrave studies in the Enlightenment, romanticism and cultures of print) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-31945-9 (alk. paper) 1. Historical fiction, English – History and criticism. 2. English fiction – 18th century – History and criticism. 3. Literature and history – Great Britain – History – 18th century. 4. History in literature. I. Title. PR858.H5S74 2010 823(cid:2).0910906—dc22 2009048534 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 To my parents This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Tables ix Acknowledgements x 1 The Formation of a Genre 1 History and fiction in the late eighteenth century 1 Studies of the historical novel 3 Sociological literary history 10 The generic corpus 14 2 Historical Novels, 1762–1783 21 Generic cycles 21 The previous cycle 24 Thomas Leland and Horace Walpole 25 William Hutchinson and Clara Reeve 36 Sophia Lee 40 Gothic versus historical 48 3 The Historical Novel in the Circulating Library 51 Sophia Lee’s imitators 51 The circulating library 53 Genres, titles, and categories 57 Circulating library catalogs 64 Popularity and canonicity 67 4 Historical Novels, 1784–1813 76 Experiments and family resemblances 76 Settings 78 Romance features 87 Antiquarian features 97 Comic and political variations 107 Historical fiction before Scott 121 5 The Historical Novel in the Reviews 123 The development of the review 123 Reviews and historical fiction 124 Morality and young readers 128 History and character 136 vii viii Contents Anachronism and pedantry 141 The ‘rules’ of historical fiction 147 6 Epilogue: Ivanhoe and Historical Fiction 150 Scott and his predecessors 150 Ivanhoe’s character-system 153 Simultaneity and multiplicity 159 Notes 164 Works Cited 175 Index 195 Tables 1.1 Historical fiction, 1762–1813 16 3.1 Circulating library catalogs 65 3.2 Historical novels in circulating libraries 69 4.1 Historical novels by setting 78 4.2 Generic features of the historical novel 88 6.1 The character-system of Ivanhoe 156 ix
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