Daniel Defoe : ambition and innovation.

310 Pages·029.059 MB·English

by  Paula R. Backscheider

DANIEL DEFOE
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Daniel Defoe
AMBITION & INNOVATION
Paula R. Backscheider
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
Portionsofchapter4appearedearlieras"Cross-Purposes:Defoe'sHistoryof
the Union" in CLIO 11 (1982), and are reprinted by permission of the
publisher. Portionsofchapter7firstappearedas"TheGenesisofRoxana"
in The Eighteenth Century: Theory and Interpretation 27 (1986) and are
reprinted by permission of the publisher. An earlier version of part of
chapter 8 appeared as "Defoe and the Geography of the Mind" in J.M.
Armistead, ed., The First English Novelists, copyright © 1985 by The
UniversityofTennesseePress,andisreprintedbypermissionofthepublisher.
Copyright © 1986byTheUniversity PressofKentucky
Scholarlypublisherfor the Commonwealth,
servingBellarmineCollege, BereaCollege, Centre
CollegeofKentucky, Eastern KentuckyUniversity,
TheFilson Club, Georgetown College, Kentucky
HistoricalSociety, KentuckyStateUniversity,
MoreheadStateUniversity, MurrayStateUniversity,
Northern KentuckyUniversity,Transylvania University,
UniversityofKentucky, UniversityofLouisville,
andWestern KentuckyUniversity.
EditorialandSales Offices: Lexington, Kentucky40506-0024
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Backscheider, Paula.
DanielDefoe: ambitionandinnovation.
Bibliography: p.
Includesindex.
1. Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731-Criticismand
interpretation. I. Title.
PR3407.B33 1987 823'.5 86-12076
ISBN978-0-8131-5084-0
TO MY SISTER
Gayle
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ix
1. THE BENT AND GENIUS
OF THE AGE 3
2. POETRY 12
3. PAMPHLETS AND POLITICS 42
4. THE HISTORIES 70
5. THE HISTORICAL NOVELS 120
6. CRIME AND ADVENTURE 152
7. ROXANA 182
8. MELTED DOWN,
FILLED WITH WONDERS 215
NOTES 241
BIBLIOGRAPHY 267
INDEX 289
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I SHALL ALWAYS think of this book with pleasure because of
the generous support of my colleagues. They shared their knowl
edge ofthe literature of other periods, listened to my enthusiasms
and speculations, and read pages or chapters with alert, critical
eyes. With affection, I offer thanks to Lewis White Beck, George
Ford, Tom Gavin, Thomas Hahn, Tanya Page, and Joseph Sum
mers. My debts to my husband, Nick Backscheider, to Marjorie
Curry Woods, to J. Paul Hunter, and to my graduate assistant,
Mary Ellen Potts, are particularly great. I am also grateful to
friends from other universities who have answered questions, read
chapters, and made helpful suggestions: Margaret Doody, J.A.
Downie, Frank Ellis, and Louis A. Landa. Finally, lowe deep
thanks to Maximillian E. Novak; at a time when I was ready to
turn away from Defoe, he shared a world of enthusiasm.
The writing of this book was supported by the University of
Rochester, the American Philosophical Society, and the National
Endowment for the Humanities; their grants and the extraordi
nary work of University of Rochester librarians Phyllis Andrews
and Shirley Ricker helped make my work pleasant and efficient.
I thank Sir John Clerk, the Massachusetts Historical Society,
Harvard's Houghton Library, the Dr. Williams Library, the
University of Edinburgh, the Scottish Record Office (S.R.O.), and
the National Library ofScotland for permission to publish manu
script material. I also thank CLIO, The Eighteenth Century:
Theory and Interpretation, and the University of Tennessee Press
for permission to reprint previously published and earlierversions
of parts of this book.
ix