The Culture of Collected Editions

The phenomenon of the collected edition has made a vital contribution to the construction of authorship, the history of reputation and the formation of the canon. Discussing a range of authors and subjects from Ben Jonson to the internet, this collection of essays brings together the disciplines of Literary and Cultural Criticism, Textual Criticism, Bibliography, Book and Publishing History, to ignite debate on the influence of famous editions of the past and the significance of present-day collected editions.

• Autorschaft
• Cultural Studies
• culture
• history of literature
• Romanticism

'It is the mark of a good and necessary book that one's first reaction should be: Why hasn't this been done before? This historical survey of the culture of the collected edition, from Jonson to Orwell with prophetic glimpses of the electronic future, not only introduces the subject but substantially covers it. The issues raised, by every chapter, are material. The collected edition is in the first instance a canonical monument but it also represents a huge investment of cultural capital - in the form of cash and expert time. Among the many readers of this book will be the patrons and foundations which make the great ventures of literary criticism possible.' - John Sutherland, Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature, University College London

'Culture of Collected Editions finally makes the collected works itself an object of study...the volume continually raises interesting questions about the role of collected editions in organizing the literary system.' - Andrew Piper, Columbia University Sharp News

MICHAEL ANESKO Associate Professor of English, Pennsylvania State University, USA MATTHEW J. BRUCCOLI Emily Brown Jeffries Professor of English, University of South Carolina, USA PETER DAVISON Former Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute IAN DONALDSON Grace 1 Professor of English, University of Cambridge, UK SIMON GATRELL Professor of English, University of Georgia, USA WARWICK GOULD Professor of English and Director of the Institute of English Studies, University of London, UK PHILIP HORNE Professor of English, University College, London, UK GRACE IOPPOLO Lecturer in English, University of Reading, UK PETER LINDENBAUM Professor of English, University of Indiana, USA J.C.C. MAYS Professor of English at University College, Dublin JEROME J. McGANN John Stewart Bryan Professor of English, University of Virginia, USA JAMES McLAVERTY Senior Lecturer in English, Keele University, UK ANDREW MURPHY Reader in English, University of St Andrews DONALD H. REIMAN Adjunct Professor of English at the University of Delaware, USA