Thackeray at Work
1st Edition
Published on 13. January 2014
165 pages
978-1-4725-0683-2 (ISBN)
Description
The study of Thackeray's major fiction reconstructs the novelist's working methods with the help of manuscript material, much of it previously unpublished. The book's main argument is directed against the commonplace view that Thackeray was in some way a 'careless' artist. Much that appears casual or unpremeditated in his work can in fact be explained by the mode of composition which he developed in response both to the publishing conditions of his age and to his own artistic temperament. An appreciation of Thackeray's writing habits helps clear up much of the critical confusion which has surrounded his reputation in the last hundred years. A particular feature of interest in the book is the use made of Thackeray's preparatory working materials. These were widely dispersed after the writer's death and have never been comprehensively examined.
More details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
ISBN-13
978-1-4725-0683-2 (9781472506832)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Dr. Sutherland is Reader in English at University College London. He previously lectured at Edinburgh University and has held visiting academic posts in the United States. As well as contributing to many academic journals he has reviewed fiction and literary studies for the Times Literary Supplement and the New Statesman and published articles on the booktrade in The New Review and New Society. His previous books are Thackeray at Work (1974) and Victorian Novelists and Publishers (1976) and he has edited novels boy Trollope and Thackeray for the Penguin English Library.
Content
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1. Vanity Fair The Art of Improvisation
2. Pendennis The Two Thackerays and the Limits of Autobiographical Fiction
3. Henry Esmond The Virtues of Carelessness
4. The Newcomes The Well Planned Baggy Monster
5. The Virginians The Worst Novel Anyone Ever Wrote
6. Denis Duval The Serialist and the Scholar
Appendix One: The Local Plans for Denis Duval
Appendix Two: The Esmond Notebook
Bibliography
Notes
Index
Introduction
1. Vanity Fair The Art of Improvisation
2. Pendennis The Two Thackerays and the Limits of Autobiographical Fiction
3. Henry Esmond The Virtues of Carelessness
4. The Newcomes The Well Planned Baggy Monster
5. The Virginians The Worst Novel Anyone Ever Wrote
6. Denis Duval The Serialist and the Scholar
Appendix One: The Local Plans for Denis Duval
Appendix Two: The Esmond Notebook
Bibliography
Notes
Index
