The Wiley–Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth–Century Writers and Writing 1660 – 1789

In British history, the years between 1660 and 1789 –– frequently referred to as the "long eighteenth century" –– were marked by seismic shifts in the political, economic, and cultural landscapes. The literary responses to the transformational events that transpired during this period were no less startling. The Wiley–Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth–Century Writers and Writing features coverage of almost 500 notable writers based in the British Isles from the return of the British monarchy in 1660 until the French Revolution of 1789. While notable writers such as Defoe, Dryden, Pope, Swift, and Johnson are covered, this volume also draws on the latest scholarship to more accurately reflect the literary achievements of this rich and fertile period. Wide ranging essays reveal a time in which aristocratic writers co–existed with professional dramatists and novelists. Also covered are the great many women and working class writers who first entered the literary mainstream, along with clergymen, doctors, lawyers, and distinctive new voices who took advantage of new opportunities to publish in newspapers, anthologies, reviews, and magazines. At once lively and authoritative, The Wiley–Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth–Century Writers and Writing : 1660–1789 presents an engaging and invaluable window into the lives and livelihood of British writers from the Restoration to the rise of Romanticism.

Acknowledgments. Timeline. Introduction and Further Reading. Entries A–Z. Index.

P aul Baines is Professor, School of English, University of Liverpool. He is the author of The House of Forgery in 18 th –Century Britain (1999), The Complete Critical Guide to Alexander Pope (2000), The Long Eighteenth Century (2004), and Edmund Curll: Bookseller (with Pat Rogers 2006), and editor of Five Romantic Plays 1768–1821 (2000). J ulian Ferraro is Lecturer, School of English, University of Liverpool. He is the author of several articles on literature of the period and is one of the editors of The Poems of Alexander Pope in the Longman Annotated English Poets (2010). P at Rogers  holds the DeBartolo Chair in the Liberal Arts, University of South Florida . He is one of the foremost authorities on eighteenth–century literature and has written or edited over thirty books on the period. He has worked extensively on Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, Henry Fielding, and Daniel Defoe, among many others. His recent publications include The Alexander Pope Encyclopedia (2004), Pope and the Destiny of the Stuarts (2005), and the edited collection, The Cambridge Companion to Alexander Pope (2008).  

“This modest volume offers an excellent reference resource for students and scholars, but, as the authors explain, their aim is not only provide ‘reliable and accessible information’ but also ‘to offer a kind of browsing sense of interconnection between writers, and indeed a sample of the collective variety of the period’ (p. xxii).”  ( Years Work in English Studies , 1 August 2013)   “Charlotte Sussman’s guide is an impressive addition to Polity’s Cultural History of Literature series. It will prove most useful to undergraduate and postgraduate students but may also provide experienced researchers with a refreshing survey of the period, articulating a number of original insights along the way.” ( Journal for Eighteenth–Century Studies , 17 July 2013)