Revising the eighteenth-century novel : authorship from manuscript to print / Hilary Havens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Havens, Hilary, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English fiction--18th century--Criticism, Textual.

English fiction.

Editing--History--18th century.

Editing.

Authorship.

History.

Criticism, Textual.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 230 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Summary:

"The manuscript draft of Frances Burney's second novel Cecilia (1782) provides a striking illustration of revision. There are hundreds of deleted words and phrases in the manuscript, but the longest obliterated passage is located within the novel's famous masquerade scene, in which the heroine Cecilia Beverley remains undisguised and recognizable while her masked suitors pursue her openly, especially the duplicitous Mr. Monckton, who is costumed as a devil. The scene epitomizes the disastrous spending habits of the Harrels, the partial guardians of Cecilia, and dramatizes Cecilia's vulnerable position. The recovered text reveals a bizarre depiction of Mr. Monckton's satanic ritualism juxtaposed with the comically confused interjections of the other revelers, which focus more on the exotic language Mr. Monckton is speaking rather than the disturbing import of his actions. The important implications of this unique passage extend beyond Burney's Cecilia to larger questions about eighteenth-century authorship, the novel, and revision"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Samuel Richardson : "fan fiction" and networked authorship

Frances Burney : obliterations and unending revisions

Jane Austen : revision as empowerment

Maria Edgeworth : scientific knowledge, didactic moralism, and her "family jury of critics"

Conclusion : Laurence Sterne, Matthew Lewis, William Godwin, and revision beyond the eighteenth century.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 212-225) and index.

ISBN:

9781108493857

1108493858

9781108725613

1108725619

OCLC:

1088347719