Tobias Smollett and the work of writing

This essay offers an overview of the state of Smollett Studies today. It is also an argument about what makes Tobias Smollett interesting. It therefore seeks to avoid the value judgments about “English literature” that have dogged Smollett's reputation (ever since “English literature” was invented) and restore him to the “work of writing” in which he was engaged. The essay thus provides an account of the wide‐ranging nature of his work in order to balance a previous critical emphasis on his novels. It includes some views of his role as a translator, historian, critic, editor, and, perhaps more provocatively, “hack.” Recent studies in eighteenth‐century print culture and the (Scottish) Enlightenment point the way to a new Smollett, at work within a messier history of writing

Book illustration

Book synopsis: William Blake, poet and artist, is a figure often understood to have 'created his own system'. Combining close readings and detailed analysis of a range of Blake's work, from lyrical songs to later myth, from writing to visual art, this collection of thirty-eight lively and authoritative essays examines what Blake had in common with his contemporaries, the writers who influenced him, and those he influenced in turn. Chapters from an international team of leading scholars also attend to his wider contexts: material, formal, cultural, and historical, to enrich our understanding of, and engagement with, Blake's work. Accessibly written, incisive, and informed by original research, William Blake in Context enables readers to appreciate Blake anew, from both within and outside of his own idiom

At Print and In Decline: A Crisis for Democracy?

This is the first of a series of events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the first newspaper in Cleveland, July 31st, 1818. The events are sponsored by the Cleveland\u27s First Newspaper Bicentennial Committee, collaboration of local libraries, media and professional journalism societies

At Print and In Decline: A Crisis for Democracy?

This is the first of a series of events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the first newspaper in Cleveland, July 31st, 1818. The events are sponsored by the Cleveland\u27s First Newspaper Bicentennial Committee, collaboration of local libraries, media and professional journalism societies