At her death in 1825, Anna Letitia Barbauld was considered one of the great writers of her time. Distinguished as a poet and essayist, she was also in innovator in children’s literature, an eloquent supporter of liberal politics, and a literary critic of stature. This edition includes a generous selection of her poetry and the first comprehensive body of her prose in more than a century, with essays—some never before reprinted—on literature, religion, education, prejudice, women’s fashions...

The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature's finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents the complete poetical works of Matthew Arnold, the archetypal sage writer, with beautiful illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)* Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Arnold's life and works* Concise introductions to the poetry and other works* Excellent formatting of the poems* Special chronological an...

In "The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge," James Gillman offers an intricate portrait of the poet-philosopher's life, weaving together an exploration of his profound literary contributions and the complex interplay of his personal struggles. The narrative, rich in detail and insight, navigates through Coleridge's milieu, characterized by Romanticism's embrace of emotional depth and philosophical inquiry. Gillman employs a literary style that is both lyrical and analytical, deftly capturing ...

According to Wikipedia: "George Edward Bateman Saintsbury (23 October 1845 - 28 January 1933), was an English writer and critic.... His first book, A Primer of French Literature (1880), and his Short History of French Literature (1882), were followed by a series of editions of French classics and of books and articles on the history of French literature, which made him the most prominent English authority on the subject. His studies in English literature were no less comprehensive, and inc...

'If a man is to write A Panegyrick, he may keep vices out of sight; but if he professes to write A Life, he must represent it really as it was.' In the last of his major writings, Samuel Johnson looked back over the previous two centuries of English Literature in order to describe the personalities as well as the achievements of the leading English poets. The major Lives - of Milton, Dryden, Swift, and Pope - are memorable cameos of the life of ...

M. Guizot, in his History of England, states the Shakespearean problem in a few words, when he says: "Let us finally mention the great comedian, the great tragedian, the great philosopher, the great poet, who was in his lifetime butcher's apprentice, poacher, actor, theatrical manager, and whose name is William Shakespeare. In twenty years, amid the duties of his profession, the care of mounting his pieces, of instructing his actors, he composed the thirty-two tragedies and comedies, in ve...

A fantastic look at the history of English literature from Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century to Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the 19th, taking in 30 authors on the way, including William Shakespeare, John Milton and Alexander Pope.

Example in this ebookOne of the most delightful of the Last Essays of Elia is entitled 'Detached Thoughts on Books and Reading', a title which would serve very well to indicate the contents of this anthology. In bringing together into one volume the tributes and opinions of a galaxy of writers, my object has been the glorification of books as books, a book being regarded as a real and separate entity, and often as an end in itself. There is a wide circle to whom th...

William Hazlitt (1778-1830) is among the most brilliant critics and essayists to have ever written in the English language. Combative and insightful, he was close to two generations of romantic poets. His early friendship with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth as a young man inspired him to a literary career, but he became disillusioned with them as apostates from the cause of liberty he associated with the French Revolution. As a mature writer, he inspired John Keats and cont...

Spanning the period from the British Civil War to the French Revolution, the fourth edition of this successful anthology increases its coverage of canonical writings, plays, and of the development of British Literature in the American colonies.A thoroughly updated new edition of this popular anthology which focuses firmly on the eighteenth century without neglecting the seventeenth centuryContains new texts including the play Rover by Aphra Behn, and Be...

In "Chaucer," Sir Adolphus William Ward provides a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the life and works of Geoffrey Chaucer, hailed as the Father of English literature. Ward employs a meticulous literary style that combines detailed biographical analysis with incisive textual criticism, situating Chaucer's oeuvre within the rich tapestry of medieval England. The book delves into Chaucer's major works, such as "The Canterbury Tales," and examines the socio-political and cultural cont...

The most important writings by the great and controversial Victorian polemicist.Carlyle was one of the great figures of his age: thunderous, passionate, irascible, sceptical and idealistic. This selection is representative of all stages of Carlyle's career, and includes 'Sign of the Times', his essay against the mechanization of the age and the rise of the machines; the whole of 'Chartism'; and extracts from The French Revolution, Heroes and Hero-Worsh...