Romantic fiction and literary excess in the Minerva Press era / Hannah Doherty Hudson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hudson, Hannah Doherty, author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in Romanticism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English fiction--18th century--History and criticism.

English fiction.

Fiction--Publishing--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Fiction.

Minerva Press--History.

Minerva Press.

English fiction--19th century--History and criticism.

Fiction--Publishing--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Fiction--Appreciation--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Fiction--Appreciation--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Books and reading--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Books and reading.

Books and reading--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Gothic fiction (Literary genre), English--History and criticism.

Gothic fiction (Literary genre), English.

Fiction--Appreciation.

Fiction--Publishing.

Great Britain.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History

Physical Description:

xiv, 284 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2023.

Summary:

"In the Romantic period, more novels were published in England than ever before. This book offers scholars and book historians a new perspective on the effects of this change, showing how this age of mass production inspired both critique and innovation among authors, publishers, readers and reviewers"-- Provided by publisher.

Jane Austen's ironic reference to 'the trash with which the press now groans' is only one of innumerable Romantic complaints about fiction's newly overwhelming presence. This book draws on evidence from over one hundred Romantic novels to explore the changes in publishing, reviewing, reading, and writing that accompanied the unprecedented growth in novel publication during the Romantic period. With particular focus on the infamous Minerva Press, the most prolific fiction-producer of the age, Hannah Hudson puts its popular authors in dialogue with writers such as Walter Scott, Ann Radcliffe, Maria Edgeworth, and William Godwin. Using paratextual materials including reviews, advertisements, and authorial prefaces, this book establishes the ubiquity of Romantic anxieties about literary 'excess', showing how beliefs about fictional overproduction created new literary hierarchies. Ultimately, Hudson argues that this so-called excess was a driving force in fictional experimentation and the advertising and publication practices that shaped the genre's reception.

Contents:

Introduction: The Minerva Press Era

1. Minerva's Writers and Reviewers

2. Godwin, Bage, Parsons, and Novels As They Are

3. Imitating Ann Radcliffe

4. Hannah More's Cœlebs and the Novel of the Moment

5. Fiction as Fashion from Belinda to Miss Byron

6. Walter Scott's Industrial Antiques

Epilogue: Remainders.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 256-277) and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Hudson, Hannah Doherty. Romantic fiction and literary excess in the Minerva Press era

ISBN:

9781009321969

100932196X

9781009321938

1009321935

OCLC:

1355600462