Oscar Wilde's Chatterton : Literary History, Romanticism, and the Art of Forgery / Joseph Bristow, Rebecca N. Mitchell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bristow, Joseph, Author.

Mitchell, Rebecca N., Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900--Knowledge--Literature.

Wilde, Oscar.

Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900--Criticism and interpretation.

Chatterton, Thomas, 1752-1770--Criticism and interpretation.

Chatterton, Thomas.

Chatterton, Thomas, 1752-1770--Influence.

Criticism--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Criticism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (488 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Oscar Wilde's Chatterton, Joseph Bristow and Rebecca N. Mitchell explore Wilde's fascination with the eighteenth-century forger Thomas Chatterton, who tragically took his life at the age of seventeen. This innovative study combines a scholarly monograph with a textual edition of the extensive notes that Wilde took on the brilliant forger who inspired not only Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Keats but also Victorian artists and authors. Bristow and Mitchell argue that Wilde's substantial "Chatterton" notebook, which previous scholars have deemed a work of plagiarism, is central to his development as a gifted writer of criticism, drama, fiction, and poetry. This volume, which covers the whole span of Wilde's career, reveals that his research on Chatterton informs his deepest engagements with Romanticism, plagiarism, and forgery, especially in later works such as "The Portrait of Mr. W. H.," The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Importance of Being Earnest. Grounded in painstaking archival research that draws on previously undiscovered sources, Oscar Wilde's Chatterton explains why, in Wilde's personal canon of great writers (which included such figures as Charles Baudelaire, Gustave Flaubert, Théophile Gautier, and Dante Gabriel Rossetti), Chatterton stood as an equal in this most distinguished company.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Preface

Introduction

1. Thomas Chatterton: Writing the Life, Editing the Poetry

2. The Chatterton Legend: Tributes, Adaptations, Memorials

3. Wilde's Disco very of Chatterton: The "Father of the Romantic Movement"

4. Wilde's "Chatterton" Notebook: The Art of Forgery and the Charge of Plagiarism

5. Wilde, Forgery, and Crime: "Pen, Pencil and Poi son," "The Decay of Lying," and the Short Fiction

6. Forging Literary History: "The Portrait of Mr. W.H."

Conclusion: Wilde's Writings and Chatterton's Reputation: The Fin de Siècle and Beyond

Editorial Introduction to Appendixes A and B

Appendix A. The "Chatterton" Notebook

Appendix B. Notes on Dante Gabriel Rossett i's Ballads and Sonnets (1881)

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Feb 2020)

ISBN:

0-300-21326-3

OCLC:

904281392