Parodies, Hoaxes, Mock Treatises: Polite Conversation, Directions to Servants and Other Works
Jonathan Swift
(Author)
Valerie Rumbold
(Editor)
Description
Swift's parodies are among his most fascinating works, but perhaps require most explication for the modern reader. Valerie Rumbold brings a new depth and detail to the editing of Swift's Bickerstaff papers, 'Polite Conversation', 'Directions to Servants' and other works on language and conduct. Highlights include a fresh investigation of the political and print contexts of the Bickerstaff papers, full commentaries on such smaller works as 'A Modest Defence of Punning' and 'On Barbarous Denominations in Ireland', identification and explanation of many additional sayings in 'Polite Conversation', and a detailed contextualisation of 'Directions to Servants' in contemporary domestic theory and practice. A substantial thematic Introduction is supplemented by an individual headnote and full annotation to each work. The Textual Introduction explores the publishing strategies adopted by Swift and his booksellers, and a separate Textual Account of each work presents and discusses changes in the texts over time.Product Details
Price
$185.15
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publish Date
July 18, 2013
Pages
911
Dimensions
5.9 X 9.2 X 2.2 inches | 3.15 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780521843263
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About the Author
Jonathan Swift (1667 - 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet and cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. Swift is remembered for works such as A Tale of a Tub (1704), An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity (1712), Gulliver's Travels (1726) and A Modest Proposal (1729). He is regarded by the Encyclopædia Britannica as the foremost prose satirist in the English language and is less well known for his poetry. He originally published all of his works under pseudonyms - such as Lemuel Gulliver, Isaac Bickerstaff, the Drapier - or anonymously. He was a master of two styles of satire, the Horatian and Juvenalian styles. His deadpan, ironic writing style, particularly in A Modest Proposal, has led to such satire being subsequently termed "Swiftian".
Valerie Rumbold is Reader in English Literature at the University of Birmingham.
Reviews
"Valerie Rumbold as editor has done an assiduous and thorough job, well up to the high standards set by this series so far ... this volume is, in its editorial construction and execution, a wonderful resource for scholars which will remain the standard edition for the foreseeable future."
Robert J. Mayhew, Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies
Robert J. Mayhew, Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies
