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English Literature
New Books from Oxford U Press, Spring & Fall 1999

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Spring 1999

Pride and Prejudice

JANE AUSTEN
Introduction by WILLIAM TREVOR


Echoing the original World's Classics series, this title is one of an initial batch of 6 mini hardbacks produced to gift book standard with stitched binding, head and tail bands, printed on 60msg paper and featuring matt laminated jackets in a retro look design. William Trevor provides an introduction to one of the best-loved novels in English literature, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. William Trevor's latest novel is Death in Summer (Viking Sept 98) and he is editor of The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories.

366 pp.; 0-19-210026-2 1999 $12.50 (02)

Providence and Love
Studies in Wordsworth, Channing, Myers, George Eliot, and Ruskin
JOHN BEER, Cambridge University, and Fellow of Peterhouse

These studies are connected by common underlying themes: the sense of Providence, the growing awareness of its loss in the nineteenth century and the pressure on the ideal of Romantic love as that came increasingly to be treated as a substitute. Investigation of these matters has led to close scrutiny of various manuscripts in British and American libraries, certain of which, including some letters of George Eliot recently discovered in Cambridge, are reproduced here for the first time.

John Beer is a well known author and literary critic

Explores the possibility of identifying the subject of Wordsworth's 'Lucy' poems

Uses previously unpublished material, including some letters of George Eliot recently discovered in Cambridge, to examine a number of unresolved literary questions
356 pp.; 2 maps, & 9 halftones; 0-19-818436-0 1999 $80.00 (06)

The Oxford Literary History of Australia
Edited by BRUCE BENNETT, University College, Australian Defence Force Academy, JENNIFER STRAUSS, Monash University, and CHRIS WALLACE-CRABBE, Melbourne University

This new literary history rethinks the landscapes of Australian literature in an engaging style and takes into account contemporary theories of literature and associated art forms.
496 pp.; 0-19-553737-8 1999 $45.00 (06)

Uncommon Wealth
An Anthology of Poetry in English
Edited by NEIL BESNER, DEBORAH SCHNITZER, and ALDEN TURNER, all at the University of Winnipeg, Canada

This unique anthology features poems written over a period of 400 years by 426 authors from countries and territories on almost every continent. Beginning with the early colonial period, British, American, and Canadian poetry is represented alongside the work of poets from the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, South Asia, and indigenous peoples' communities.
872 pp.; 3 linecuts; 0-19-541076-9 1998 $32.95 (04) paper

Ruskin and the Dawn of the Modern
Edited by DINAH BIRCH

This interdisciplinary collection of original essays reconsiders John Ruskin's legacy, suggesting that the vigor and vitality of his late work played an important role in shaping the twentieth-century mind. The contributors have focused on such diverse areas as Ruskin's thinking on music, his impact on social reform policies and the British Labor movement, his influence on scientific and artistic education, and on his writing in Fors Clavigera.
208 pp.; 13 b/w plates; 0-19-818454-9 1999 $62.00 (06)

Proceedings of the British Academy
1997 Lectures and Memoirs
BRITISH ACADEMY

Volume 97 of the Proceedings of the British Academy contains nine British Academy lectures and fourteen obituaries of Fellows of the British Academy.

Contains nine British Academy lectures and fourteen obituaries of Fellows of the British Academy

544 pp.; 14 halftones, & 9 line illus; 0-19-726192-2 1999 $115.00 (06)

Wuthering Heights
EMILY BRONTË
Introduction by JOYCE CAROL OATES, Princeton University


Echoing the original World's Classics series, this title is one of an initial batch of 6 mini hardbacks produced to gift book standard with stitched binding, head and tail bands, printed on 60msg paper and featuring matt laminated jackets in a retro look design. Joyce Carol Oates provides an introduction to one of the greatest novels in English literature, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Joyce Carol Oates's most recent novel is The Heart Laid Bare (June 98, Dutton), the tale of a New England confidence man who teaches his children the tricks of his trade, a tragic 20th century family epic crammed with ideas and American history.
384 pp.; 0-19-210027-0 1999 $15.50 (02)

Voicing the Text
South African Oral Poetry and Performance
DUNCAN BROWN, University of Natal, Durban

From the ritual songs and stories of the country's earliest inhabitants to the rousing calls to action by anti-apartheid artists, oral poetry has always been an integral part of South Africa's literary and cultural heritage. This book casts fresh light on the richness of this neglected yet vibrant tradition.
304 pp.; 0-19-571632-9 1999 $18.95 (01) paper

Reading Dreams
The Interpretation of Dreams from Chaucer to Shakespeare
Edited by PETER BROWN, University of Kent

Medieval and Renaissance poetry and drama are some of the best resources we have in determining the importance dreams had in pre-Freudian society. For the first time, leading scholars have collaborated to produce new essays on the representation and interpretation of medieval and Renaissance dreams. Their essays, which range from Chaucer to Shakespeare, are designed to develop innovative approaches possible only in a specially commissioned collection.
208 pp.; 0-19-818363-1 1999 $60.00 (06)

The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories
Edited by STEWART BROWN and JOHN WICKHAM

"This has to be the definitive collection of Caribbean short stories. This is the one that shall be handed down from generation to generation."--Benjamin Zephaniah, Poet

Some of the freshest, most vital, and diverse new literature written in the twentieth century has emerged from the Caribbean. And central to Caribbean literature is the short story, with its ties with the oral tradition. Now, The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories, edited by Stewart Brown and John Wickham, brings together fifty-two stories in a major anthology representing over a century's worth of pan-Caribbean short fiction. This breathtaking collection is unique--and indispensable--in its inclusion of authors from the English, French, Spanish, and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.
The distinctly Anglophone viewpoint of such prominent authors as Jean Rhys, Sam Sevlon, V.S. Naipual, and E.A. Markham is richly contrasted by contributions from French, Spanish, and Dutch writers like Alejo Carpentier, Rene Depestre, and Thea Doelwijt, while the new generation--represented by such names as Edwidge Danticat and Patrick Chamoiseau--points the way forward for Caribbean writing into the twenty-first century. With his stimulating introduction, Brown provides an up-to-date overview of Caribbean writing. Exploring the literature's themes of history, race, social justice, identity, and migration, he traces its evolution from the gritty naturalism of the Anglophone tradition to the magical realism of the French and Spanish traditions to a body of contemporary pan-Caribbean literature that cannot be contained in any convenient linguistic, geographical, or thematic definition.
Charting the shifting ideologies and styles of this century--from the flamboyant wit of Samuel Selvon to the deceptive simplicity of Jamaica Kincaid--The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories delivers a wealth of satisfactions in a single volume with unprecedented range.

"Most striking...is the confidence , vitality, and range of voices that here speak out of the multilingual multicultural space that is todays Caribbean. A hugely entertaining and informative collection, to visit and revisit."--Dennis Walder, The Open University
512 pp.; 0-19-283241-7 1999 $18.95 (03) paper

The Canterbury Tales
GEOFFREY CHAUCER
Retold by GERALDINE MCCAUGHREAN and illustrated by VICTOR G. AMBRUS

They set off on an April morning with the rain dripping from the branches. Priests, nuns, tradesmen, men from the city--all pilgrims on the road to Canterbury. To pass the long journey they told each other stories of magic and trickery, of animals with blazing eyes, of people with pants on fire, of love and death and the devil. Geraldine McCaughrean retells The Canterbury Tales for children in a lively and humorous style that captures the original flair of Chaucer himself. She introduces us to the characters who told these tales: the shy, battle-hardened Knight, the Summoner whose breath smells of onions, the Widow of Bath who likes a happy ending. The stories and characters are brought to life by the brush of Victor Ambrus, with pictures of wild chases, exciting battles, and the English countryside.

"McCaughrean's accomplished prose version of the medieval classic retains the basic plot and humor of Chaucer's original poem. Colorful detailed illustrations accompany an accessible introduction to the medieval masterpiece."--The Horn Book Guide
128 pp.; 68 color illus.; 8-1/2 x 11; 0-19-274181-0 1999 $12.95 (03) paper

Three Horsemen of the New Apocalypse
NIRAD C. CHAUDHURI, Fellow of the Royal Literary Society

Chaudhuri shares the wisdom of his life as a dispassionate scholar and political moralist on a prevalent issue of our time, the decline of western civilization. A highly readable and visionary meditation, this work is characterized by Chaudhuri's capacity for prescience, measured prose, and acerbic judgements on a great variety of twentieth-century issues in the western world.
148 pp.; 0-19-564857-9 1999 $8.95 (06) paper 1998 $15.95 (06) cloth

Miss or Mrs?, The Haunted Hotel, The Guilty River
WILKIE COLLINS
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by NORMAN PAGE, University of Nottingham, and TORU SASAKI, Kyoto University, Japan


The three novellas gathered here--Miss or Mrs? (1871), The Haunted Hotel (1878), and The Guilty River (1886)--demonstrate Collins's ability to construct a gripping situation and create an atmosphere of mystery and menace. Fast-paced and psychologically absorbing, the stories proceed through a series of dramatic scenes to a climax that in one case at least is literally explosive. These stories, varied in setting and tone, demonstrate Collins's plot-making skill at its most succinct and intricate. Featuring excellent critical apparatus, this edition also includes Collins's original prefaces.

400 pp.; 0-19-283307-3 1999 $10.95 (03) paper

Beowulf
The Fight at Finnsburh
Translated by KEVIN CROSSLEY-HOLLAND
Edited with an introduction and notes by HEATHER O'DONOGHUE, Linacre College, Oxford


The finest literary work passed down to us from Anglo-Saxon times, Beowulf celebrates the existence of heroism in a dark world of feuds, violence, and uncertainty. Set in the legendary Scandinavian past, Beowulf comes to the aid of the Danish king Hrothgar by killing the terrifying monster Grendel and its vengeful mother. A lifetime later, Beowulf courageously prepares for another great battle when a fiery dragon threatens his own kingdom. This acclaimed translation contains a critical introduction, a full index of names, and extensive notes.
176 pp.; 1 map; 0-19-283320-0 1999 $6.95 (03) paper

Modern Irish Writers and the Wars
Edited by KATHLEEN DEVINE, University of Ulster, Coleraine

This collection of papers by leading figures in the field of Irish history and literary criticism were given, or were intended to be given, at a University of Ulster symposium in 1993. They discuss the influence that conflict--world and civil--has had on twentieth century Irish writers.
328 pp.; 0-86140-353-3 1999 $60.00 (06)

Black Imagination and the Middle Passage
Edited by MARIA DIEDRICH, University of Muenster, HENRY LOUIS GATES, Harvard University, and CARL PEDERSEN, Odense University, Denmark

This volume of essays examines the forced dispossession caused by the Middle Passage. The book analyzes the texts, religious rites, economic exchanges, dance, and music it elicited, both on the transatlantic journey and on the American continent. The totality of this collection establishes a broad topographical and temporal context for the Passage that extends from the interior of Africa across the Atlantic and to the interior of the Americas, and from the beginning of the Passage to the present day. A collective narrative of itinerant cultural consciousness as represented in histories, myths, and arts, these contributions conceptualize the meaning of the Middle Passage for African American and American history, literature, and life.
336 pp.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; 0-19-512640-8 1999 $55.00 (06) cloth 1999 $19.95 (01) paper

Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times
Volume I
ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER EARL OF SHAFTESBURY
Edited by PHILIP AYRES, Monash University, Australia


Shaftesbury's Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times is a collection of treatises on interconnected themes in moral philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and politics. This is the first new edition of Characteristicks as a coherent collection for almost a century. A substantial Introduction discusses Shaftesbury's works and ideas in the context of his times, and traces the reception and influence of his writings through the eighteenth century and beyond.
368 pp.; frontispiece & 9 original engravings; 0-19-812376-0 1999 $115.00 (06)

Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times
Volume II
ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER EARL OF SHAFTESBURY
Edited by PHILIP AYRES, Monash University, Australia


Shaftesbury's Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times is a collection of treatises on interconnected themes in moral philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and politics. This is the first new edition of Characteristicks as a coherent collection for almost a century. A substantial Introduction discusses Shaftesbury's works and ideas in the context of his times, and traces the reception and influence of his writings through the eighteenth century and beyond.
408 pp.; 3 original engravings; 0-19-812377-9 1999 $115.00 (06)

Middlemarch
A Study of Provincial Life
GEORGE ELIOT
Introduction by A. S. BYATT


Echoing the original World's Classics series, this title is one of an initial batch of 6 mini hardbacks produced to gift book standard with stitched binding, head and tail bands, printed on 60msg paper and featuring matt laminated jackets in a retro look design. A. S. Byatt provides an introduction to one of the most popular novels in English literature, George Eliot's Middlemarch. A. S. Byatt's most recent novel is Still Life (1997) and she is best known for Possession and Angels and Insects.
944 pp.; 0-19-210029-7 1999 $14.00 (02)

The Poems and Translations of Sir Richard Fanshawe
Volume II
Edited by PETER DAVIDSON

This volume completes the first edition of the collected works of the early modern poet and translator Sir Richard Fanshawe, and contains Fanshawe's translation of The Lusiad of Camoes, the single work which affirms his importance in the history of translation. The translation of the Baroque play Querer por solo Querer from the court of Philip IV of Spain is also given, as is Fanshawe's Latin rendering of parts of The Lusiad, printed here for the first time.

This volume completes the first edition of the collected works of the early modern poet and translator Sir Richard Fanshawe

Contains those versions of Portuguese and Spanish texts which confirm Fanshawe's importance in the history of translation

Fanshawe's Latin rendering of parts of The Lusiad of Camoes, discovered by the present editor, is here printed for the first time

All texts are given from corrected printed copies with a provenance in Fanshawe's family and immediate circle, thus representing his works in a form which is as close as possible to Fanshawe's final intentions

704 pp.; 4 b/w halftones; 0-19-818299-6 1999 $200.00 (06)

The Biblical Presence in Shakespeare, Milton, and Blake
A Comparative Study
HAROLD FISCH, Bar-Ilan University

The indebtedness of Shakespeare, Milton, and Blake to a common source, namely the Bible becomes a powerful tool for displaying three fundamentally different poetic options as well as three different ways of dealing with a conflict central to western culture. In this piercing study of the poetics of influence, Fisch gives detailed and original discussions of Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Hamlet, King Lear, Paradise Lost, Samson Agonistes, Blake's Milton, and Blake's illustrations to Job.
352 pp.; 10 halftones; 0-19-818489-1 1999 $80.00 (06)

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Comet of the Enlightenment
ISOBEL GRUNDY, University of Alberta, Canada

With interest growing in the tradition of women's writing, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) has been transformed from a colorful eccentric to an important writer. This book is the first to take her writing achievement seriously, as well as re-telling a life-story which every newly uncovered detail renders more extraordinary.
714 pp.; frontispiece, 9 b/w plates, & 3 maps; 0-19-811289-0 1999 $45.00 (06)

Literature, Travel, and Colonial Writing in the English Renaissance 1545-1625
ANDREW HADFIELD, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

What was the purpose of representing foreign lands for writers in the English Renaissance? This innovative and wide-ranging study argues that writers often used their works as vehicles to reflect on the state of contemporary English politics. It examines fictional and non-fictional writings, illustrating how early modern readers made close connections between the two, and the problems involved in assuming that we can make sense of the past with the categories available to us.

Explores representations of Europe, the Americas, Africa, and the Far East in a wide-ranging and innovative study of English travel writing

Redresses the neglected area of Renaissance travel and colonialism

Utilizes postcolonial and other modern forms of theory in new ways and scenes

328 pp.; 13 halftones; 0-19-818480-8 1999 $72.00 (06)


Dryden and the Traces of Classical Rome
PAUL HAMMOND, University of Leeds

This book examines the ways in which Dryden uses Latin in his poetry and his critical writing, first through quotation and allusion, and second through formal translation. In following the varied traces of Rome in the texture of Dryden's writing, and by emphasizing his continual engagement with mutability and metamorphosis, this book argues the case for Dryden as a thoughtful, humanistic poet.
324 pp.; 7 b/w plates; 0-19-818411-5 1999 $75.00 (06)

Images of Joyce
Volume 1
Edited by CLIVE HART, C. GEORGE SANDULESCU, BONNIE K. SCOTT, and FRITZ SENN

The two volumes of this series contain the proceedings of the Twelfth International James Joyce Symposium held in Monte Carlo in June 1990 under the auspices of the Princess Grace Irish Library and the patronage of H. S. H. Rainer III, Sovereign Prince of Monaco. The first volume contains general and biographical essays and those dealing with theoretical and linguistic matters, sources, influences, and comparative studies.
452 pp.; 0-86140-409-2 1998 $72.00 (06)

Images of Joyce
Volume 2
Edited by CLIVE HART, C. GEORGE SANDULESCU, BONNIE K. SCOTT, and FRITZ SENN

The second volume in this series deals with the individual works of Joyce--Chamber Music, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Ulysses, and Finnegans Wake--workshops and living book reviews, as well as papers on W. B. Yeats and Joyce and on Jack B. Yeats, details on the conference program, and the Index.
430 pp.; 0-86140-410-6 1998 $72.00 (06)

Selections from The Female Spectator
ELIZA HAYWOOD
Edited by PATRICIA MEYER SPACKS, University of Virginia


After Aphra Behn, Eliza Haywood was the most important English female novelist of the early eighteenth century. She also edited several serial newspapers, the most important of which, the Female Spectator, was the first modern periodical written by a woman and addressed to a female audience. This fully annotated collection of articles selected from the Female Spectator includes romantic and satiric fiction, moral essays, and social commentary, covering the broad range of concerns shared by eighteenth-century middle-class women. Perhaps most compelling to a twentieth-century audience is the evidence of what we might be tempted to call feminist awareness.
By no means revolutionary in her attitudes, Haywood nonetheless perceives the inequities of her periods social conditions for women. She offers pragmatic advice, such as how to avoid disastrous marriages, how to deal with wandering husbands, and what kind of education women should seek. The essays also report on a broad range of social actualities, from the craze for tea drinking and the dangers of gossip to the problem of compulsive gambling. They allude to such larger matters as politics, war, and diplomacy, and promote the importance of science and the urgency of developing informed relations with nature.
336 pp.; 5-1/2 x 8-1/4; 0-19-510921-X 1999 $45.00 (06) cloth 1999 $19.95 (06) paper

Australian Lives
An Oxford Anthology
Edited by JOY HOOTON, University College, Canberra

Joy Hooton, an authority on Australian autobiography and co-author of The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature, has compiled an absorbing anthology of some of our finest autobiographical writings from the convict era to the present day. She illustrates the strengths of this literary form, which has loomed large in Australian writing since European settlement.
312 pp.; 0-19-553785-8 1999 $35.00 (06)

British Literary Bibliography 1980-1989
A Bibliography
T. H. HOWARD-HILL, University of South Carolina

British Literary Bibliography 1980-1989, in a two-volume set, is the penultimate decennial section of the well-established serial bibliography, Index to British Literary Bibliography, covering the history and bibliography of British books and authors.

1104 pp.; 0-19-818643-6 1999 $215.00 (06)

Rudyard Kipling
Edited with introduction and notes by DANIEL KARLIN, University College London

This is the first scholarly edition to bring together the best short stories and poems of Rudyard Kipling. Covering the full range of Kipling's career from the 1880s to the 1930s it includes selections from Plain Tales from the Hills, Traffics and Discoveries, Just So Stories, Barrack-Room Ballads and Other Verses, and many more. A hugely inventive writer, Kipling displayed comic mastery as well as bleak insights into human behavior in his work.
752 pp.; 0-19-254201-X $70.00 (06) cloth 1999 $19.95 (01) paper

Australian Verse
An Oxford Anthology
Edited by JOHN LEONARD

This anthology is a survey of poetry by Australians in English, beginning with a selection of contemporary work by younger poets and going backward in time to the early colonial period. An extensive selection is provided of the major poets Les Murray, Gwen Harwood, Judith Wright, A. D. Hope, and Kenneth Slessor.
456 pp.; 0-19-550699-5 1999 $35.00 (06) paper

Journal of a West India Proprietor
Kept during a Residence in the Island of Jamaica
MATTHEW LEWIS
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by JUDITH TERRY, University of Victoria, British Columbia


Matthew Lewis is best remembered as the author of the sensational Gothic novel The Monk. He was also a slave-owner, inheriting two large plantations and making two visits to Jamaica to investigate the living and working conditions of his slaves. His anecdotal record, the Journal of a West India Proprietor, offers a vivid account of plantation life from the slave owner's perspective. This edition provides full contextual background and includes Lewis' verse narrative The Isle of Devils, as well as a telling last letter and extract from his papers.
252 pp.; 1 map, & 1 woodcut; 0-19-283261-1 $12.95 (03) paper

Gallathea 1592
JOHN LYLY
Edited with an introduction by LEAH SCRAGG, University of Manchester


This is a photographic facsimile of John Lyly's comedy Gallathea, printed in 1592, taken from the copy in the British Library, with the songs from Lyly's Sixe Court Comedies, printed in 1632, taken from the copy in the Huntington Library, California.

Includes evidence of the influence of Gallathea on the comedies of Shakespeare

72 pp.; 0-19-729037-X 1999 $39.95 (06)


An Australian Girl
CATHERINE MARTIN
Edited by GRAHAM TULLOCH, Flinders University of South Australia
with an Introduction by AMANDA NETTLEBECK, University of Adelaide, South Australia


As Australia began the process of breaking away from its status as a British colony, Catherine Martin was fascinated with the meaning of Australian culture and identity. She examines these issues through the story of the independent and intelligent Stella Courtland, a young girl who marries and finds herself hampered by the social constraints of her new life. In this sensitive tale of moral and emotional growth, Martin brilliantly captures this turning point in Australian history and anticipates the values of a new generation.
512 pp.; 0-19-283922-5 1999 $14.95 (03) paper

The Taming of A Shrew 1594
Edited by STEPHEN MILLER, King's College, London

The anonymous comedy, The Taming of a Shrew, was printed by Peter Short in 1594, and is presumed to have been performed before that date. In his Introduction, Stephen Miller analyzes the printing of the quarto and relates it to previous studies of Shakespeare quartos also printed by Short. He gives an account of the controversy surrounding the relation of A Shrew to the text of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, first printed in the First Folio of 1623, and supplies a table of scene-by-scene correspondences between the two texts.

A photographic facsimile of the text from the unique surviving copy now in the Huntington Library, California

72 pp.; 0-19-729036-1 1999 $39.95 (06)

Detective Duos
Edited by MARCIA MULLER and BILL PRONZINI

"A charming anthology."--The Wall Street Journal

Sleuthing twosomes have long made their mark on detective fiction. In this marvelous anthology, a real-life detective duo--married mystery novelists Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini--have brought together twenty-five of the best paired puzzle-solvers in short stories of remarkable range and scope.
From Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, to Agatha Christie's Mr. Satterthwaite and Harley Quin, to Patrick Quentin's Peter and Iris Duluth, to Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone and Rae Kelleher, Muller and Pronzini have gathered a treasure chest of stories featuring almost every possible variation on the types of partnership sleuths. Imitations of--and the original--Holmes and Watson tandem appear alongside husband and wife teams, two-woman duos, professional and amateur duos, multi-ethnic parings, and collaborations between two writers and their individual series characters. Spanning more than a century of crime fiction, including both classic tales by the greats of mystery writing as well as outstanding stories from contemporary writers, Detective Duos will captivate the sleuth in all of us.

"Muller and Pronzini, two of the best themselves, have given us a wonderful sampling of the other great teams in the mystery field."--Tony Hillerman

"This delightful volume will not only entertain but also introduce readers to authors and characters they may not have otherwise discovered."--Booklist

448 pp.; 5-5/16 x 8; 0-19-512910-5 1999 $18.95 (03) paper 1997 $30.00 (02) cloth


The Best of Shakespeare
Retellings of 10 Classic Plays
E. NESBIT
with an Introduction by IONA OPIE and Afterword by PETER HUNT

The perfect introduction to Shakespeare's work

At the heart of any great work of literature is a story. William Shakespeare's plays are no exception. They tell the stories of kings and queens, of ghosts and witches, of romance and passion. But to get to the stories at the heart of the Bard's plays, the reader must first work through Shakespeare's language, a task often too demanding for younger readers (and for many adults). This new paperback edition brings ten of Shakespeare's greatest plays to life. E. Nesbit, the classic British children's author, shakes off the burdensome complexity of Shakespeare's language and tells the stories at the core of the plays with a generous sprinkle of wit and humor. Her graceful, vivid retellings, written in highly accessible and lucid prose, are the perfect introduction to Shakespeare's work.
All of these major works are included in this anthology: Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, As You Like It, The Winter's Tale, and Twelfth Night. The text is illustrated with dramatic black-and-white photographs from contemporary productions of the plays by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Stratford Festival (Ontario, Canada), and the Folger Library's Shakespeare Theater. Also included is an afterword by Peter Hunt, a leading scholar of children's literature.
These retellings of the classic tales of one of the world's greatest playwrights remind us that it is never too early for Shakespeare.

"With fresh insight, plain speaking, and gusto, Nesbit clarifies the basic plots of ten familiar plays."--Library Lane

"Classic British children's author E. Nesbit brings ten of Shakespeare's most famous plays to life."--Curriculum Administrator

"These stories...capture the essential events and retain a little of the original wording. A good choice for young people seeking an introduction to the tales or for older folk looking for a refresher."--Booklist

"[An] accessible collection.... Adapts the Bard's plays as brief, lively stories."--Publishers Weekly

"Nesbit's gift for storytelling brings ten of the most famous plays from Shakespeare to life."--Yellow Brick Road

10 of the Bard's greatest plays retold by E. Nesbit

Features photographs from modern productions of Shakespeare's plays

Ideal for young adults or adults looking to rediscover Shakespeare


112 pp.; 31 photos; 0-19-513213-0 1999 $9.95 (03) paper 1997 $18.95 (01) jacketed hardback

The Oxford Book of Australian Letters
Edited by BRENDA NIALL and JOHN THOMPSON

The first wide-ranging historical anthology of Australian letters, this entertaining, informative, and superbly researched volume offers 201 letters, from James Cook and Arthur Phillip to Les Murray, Helen Garner, and an e-mail exchange of the 1990s.

An entertaining and eclectic collection of Australin letters

344 pp.; 0-19-553985-0 1999 $35.00 (06)

Portraits of Coleridge
MORTON D. PALEY, University of California, Berkeley

Until now, no detailed examination has been made of the twenty-four portraits known to have been painted of Coleridge during his life. This book provides a critical and scholarly study of the portraits as works of art, each of which seems to reveal some aspect of Coleridge's personality. It also considers the place of each portrait in the career of the artist who produced it. There are reproductions throughout.
194 pp.; frontispiece, 1 color photo, 25 b/w photos; 0-19-818469-7 1999 $55.00 (06)

The Oxford Book of Modern Australian Verse
Edited by PETER PORTER

In this new anthology, the noted Australian poet Peter Porter has compiled a strikingly original and impartial collection of modern Australian verse commencing in 1945. With an emphasis on wit, satire, and technical virtuosity, the collection offers many wonderful poems by such famous names as Les Murray, Francis Webb, Gwen Harwood, David Malouf, Dorothy Porter, and Chris Wallace-Crabbe.
312 pp.; 0-19-550706-1 1999 $29.95 (06) paper

Theatre of Shadows: Samuel Beckett's Drama 1956-76
From All That Fall to Footfalls with commentaries on the late plays
ROSEMARY POUNTNEY

Theatre of Shadows both defines and takes as its subject the middle period of Sammuel Beckett's dramatic writing. By making a close study of the structure, and of the largely unpublished manuscript drafts, of the plays written from 1956 to 1976, this book offers considerable insight into Beckett's creative process.

332 pp.; 0-86140-407-6 1999 $19.95 (06) paper

The Works of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
Edited by HAROLD LOVE, Monash University, Victoria, Australia

John Wilmot, second Earl of Rochester (1647-80), was a leading member of the group of "court wits" surrounding Charles II and one of the wittiest and most sexually explicit poets in English. In this long-awaited edition, Harold Love, a leading scholar of seventeenth-century manuscript circulation, presents a scholarly text based on detailed examination of Wilmot's manuscripts, with full textual and explanatory notes.

Rochester is one of the finest as well as the most scurrilous and sexually explicit poets of the Restoration period

This long-awaited edition is ground-breaking in its handling of texts circulated in manuscript

766 pp.; 10 line illus; 0-19-818367-4 1999 $165.00 (06)

Henry IV, Part 2
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Edited by RENÉ WEIS, University College, London


This new edition of one of Shakespeare's greatest history plays offers a helpful Introduction to the play's structure, language, and performance history, and notes that provide an illuminating commentary on details of the text.
304 pp.; 10 halftones; 0-19-283143-7 1999 $7.95 (03) paper 1998 $85.00 (06) cloth

The Midwives Book
Or the Whole Art of Midwifry Discovered
JANE SHARP
Edited by ELAINE HOBBY, Loughborough University


When the midwife Jane Sharp wrote The Midwives Book in 1671, she became the first British woman to publish a midwifery manual. Drawing on works by her male contemporaries and weaving together medical information and lively antecdotes, she produces a book that is instructive, accessible, witty, and constantly surprising.
368 pp.; 5-1/2 x 8-1/4; 0-19-508652-X 1999 $49.95 (06) cloth 1999 $19.95 (01) paper

Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf
A Public of Two
ANGELA SMITH, University of Stirling

Long after the death of Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923), Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) described being haunted by Mansfied in dreams. Through detailed comparative readings of their fiction, letters, and diaries, Angela Smith explores the intense affinity between the two writers. Writing at a time when the First World War and the changing attitudes towards empire problematized definitions of foreignness, the fiction of both Mansfield and Woolf is characterized by moments in which the perceiving consciousness sees the familiar made strange, the domestic made menacing.
256 pp.; 0-19-818398-4 1999 $45.00 (06)

A Guide to the Books of William Blake for Innocent and Experienced Readers
HENRY SUMMERFIELD, University of Victoria, British Columbia

The writings of William Blake were not understood by his contemporaries or the Victorians, and it was only in 1910, with the publication of Joseph Wicksteed's Blake's Vision of the Book of Job, that the long process of comprehending Blake's works seriously began. Part I of this work consists of twelve chapters that are primarily intended to instruct the reader who has little or no acquaintance with Blake's more difficult works.
850 pp.; 0-86140-408-4 1999 $29.95 (06) paper

Chaucer, Boccaccio and the Debate of Love
A Comparative Study of The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales
N. S. THOMPSON, Christ Church, Oxford

In this study, Thompson explores the links between the two most popular collections of medieval narrative. Looking at the Decameron and the Canterbury Tales in their entirety, Thompson reveals many surprising similarities--ranging from the way they discuss fiction to their treatment of it--which have, until now, remained unnoticed.

"A landmark in Chaucerian studies, this book revitalizes scholarly response to two giants of medieval literature."--Choice
368 pp.; 0-19-818646-0 1999 $24.95 (01) paper

The Picture of Dorian Gray
OSCAR WILDE
Introduction by EDMUND WHITE


Echoing the original World's Classics series, this title is one of an initial batch of 6 mini hardbacks produced to a gift book standard with stitched binding, head and tail bands, printed on 60msg paper and featuring matt laminated jackets in a retro look design. Edmund White provides an introduction to one of the most haunting and celebrated stories in English literature. His recent fiction includes The Farewell Symphony, Forgetting Elena, The Beautiful Room is Empty and Caracole.
240 pp.; 0-19-210031-9 1999 $13.50 (02)

Lanyer: A Renaissance Woman Poet
SUSANNE WOODS, Brown University

Aemilia Bassano Lanyer published poetry to and for women in 1611, at the height of the largely misogynistic reign of James I. Her verse compliments and extends our view of her contemporaries, such as Spenser, Shakespeare, Jonson, and Donne, whose work in turn provides a context for her unique and engaging voice. This book situates Lanyer within the rich tradition of Jacobean poetry.
224 pp.; 6 figures; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; 0-19-512484-7 1999 $39.95 (06)
416 pp.; 0-19-283179-8 1999 $9.95 (03) paper







Fall 1999
The Country Captain

WILLIAM CAVENDISH
This is the first modern edition of Cavendish's comedy from the Harleian MS since A. H. Bullen included it in his A Collection of Old English Plays (1882-5). The introduction to the old-spelling edition presents new material about the manuscript's provenance and composition as well as about the play's history.
The only modern edition in print
Supplements Dramatic Works by William Cavendish, ed. Lynne Hulse, Malone Society Reprints (1996)
120 pp.; 4 halftones; 0-19-729038-8 1999 $35.00 (06)

The Moonstone
Second Edition
WILKIE COLLINS
Edited with an introduction by JOHN SUTHERLAND

Called "the first and greatest of English detective novels" by T.S.Eliot, The Moonstone is a masterpiece of suspense. A fabulous yellow diamond becomes the dangerous inheritance of Rachel Verinder. Outside her Yorkshire country house watch the Hindu priests who have waited for many years to reclaim their ancient talisman, looted from the holy city of Somnauth. When the Moonstone disappears the case looks simple, but in mid-Victorian England no one is what they seem, and nothing can be taken for granted.
Witnesses, suspects, and detectives each narrate the story in turn. The bemused butler, the love-stricken housemaid, the enigmatic detective Sergeant Cuff, the drug-addicted scientist--each speculate on the mystery as Collins weaves their narratives together. The Moonstone transcends the genre of detective novel or murder mystery, though, and this new edition features a fascinating introduction by John Sutherland which discusses the themes of imperialism, sensationalism and mesmerism.

560 pp.; 0-19-283338-3 February 2000 $6.95 (03) Tentative paper

Emma
JANE AUSTEN Introduction by PENELOPE FITZGERALD
Beautifully produced original format hardback World's Classics novel introduced by Penelope Fitzgerald

Emma (1816) is Jane Austen's comic masterpiece in which Emma Woodhouse finds her match-making skills sadly misdirected as she learns humility and self-knowledge at the same time as she discovers love. This edition features a new Introduction by Penelope Fitzgerald which examines the pleasure given by Emma's reassuringly stable world as well as by its comedy, and examines the relationships, imagery, and continuing power of Austen's last and perhaps greatest novel.
464 pp.; 0-19-210030-0 1999 $13.00 (02)

John Marchmont's Legacy
MARY ELIZABETH BRADDON
Edited with an introduction and Notes by TORU SASAKI, University of Nottingham, and NORMAN PAGE, Kyoto University, Japan


"I am simply steeped in Miss Braddon."--Alfred Lord Tennyson
Tennyson was not the only Victorian reader to be captivated by Mary Elizabeth Braddon's fiction. While still in her mid-twenties, Braddon scored two remarkable hits with the sensational Lady Audley's Secret and Aurora Floyd. In John Marchmont's Legacy, Braddon offers a plot charged with drama and mystery, its eerie atmosphere and, above all, the depiction of an extraordinary woman.
In remote Lincolnshire, `fenny, misty, and flat always', Olivia Arundel can find no outlet for either her intellectual abilities or her fierce passions, but is compelled to look on as the man she loves has thoughts only for a woman whose gifts are vastly inferior to her own. Braddon once declared that Wilkie Collins, the master of the `sensation novel', was `assuredly my literary father'; she herself has the same skill in weaving a story of mystery, conspiracy, menace and violence, while the energy and vivacity of her narrative are all her own.
Expertly edited with an introduction by Norman Page and Toru Sasaki, this is the only edition available of this work that deserves its place alongside Braddon's great works.
544 pp.; 0-19-283321-9 1999 $12.95 (03) paper

A Storm's Call for Prayer
Selections from Shaikh Ayaz
Edited by ASIF FARRUKHI and SHAH MUHAMMAD PIRZADA
This book shows Shaikh Ayaz as a poet of the earth and the people. He is a thoroughly modern craftsman who is imaginatively traditional at the same time. These translations selected from different periods of his life depict the rich variety and diversity of the artist's work.
100 pp.; 10 b/w illus.; 0-19-579007-3 September 1999 $9.95 (06) Tentative

The Oxford Anthology of Raj Stories
Edited by SAROS COWASJEE, University of Regina, Canada

This definitive anthology brings together literature written about the British Raj in India by authors such as Kipling, Orwell, and Woolf. The pieces provide a portrait of colonial India and impressions of the interaction between British rulers and their Indian subjects in a mix of ironic and entertaining stories.
360 pp.; 0-19-564279-1 $29.95 (06)

The Oxford Book of Ireland
Edited by PATRICIA CRAIG

Capturing the character of Ireland--a unique new literary anthology

"Ireland! Ireland! Ireland! The word falls on the ear with the gentle persistence of rain on the shores of Kerry," said Honor Tracy. "The Irishman," said Robert Lynd, "is one of the world's greatest puzzles." Just what is the true essence of Ireland? And who, exactly, are the "We Irish," as described by W.B. Yeats?
The Oxford Book of Ireland is a unique anthology of writing that attempts to finally strike at the heart of this compelling country and its people, through the words of the Irish themselves. Included here are the poems, essays, and excerpts from the fiction of writers such as Samuel Beckett, Elizabeth Bowen, Seamus Heaney, James Joyce, Patrick Kavanagh, Louis MacNeice, Frank O'Connor, Honor Tracy, William Trevor, and W.B. Yeats. Arranged according to theme, the emphasis of this volume falls on geography, social history, custom, and personal observation. These great figures lament over the loss of the Gaelic language, ponder the splendor of endless Irish skies, contemplate the frenetic urbanity of Dublin, and revel in the invigorating wit and charm of their people.
From the beauty of Celtic twilights to the drive towards insurgency, from the alcoholic animation to the passion of the Catholic region no country has fostered as much analysis and self-scrutiny as Ireland. Riveting, illuminating, and even exasperating, The Oxford Book of Ireland is a stimulating collection of the greatest Irish writers reflecting upon their mysterious and beloved homeland. Anyone bewitched by the land of Eire will delight in this spirited anthology.

"Add this volume to your library for a varied but splendid portrait of Ireland through the eyes and words of great literary figures...another masterpiece both in content and presentation."--Naples Daily

"Good for pleasure reading.... Recommended for public libraries."--Library Journal

"This is the kind of anthology that is fun to pull out when you need an erudite Irish fix."--The Irish American Post

An exhilarating collection of the greatest Irish literary figures writing on their favorite topicIreland

Engages with Irish literary, cultural, social, religious, and political development over the centuries

536 pp.; 2 maps; 0-19-288112-4 1999 $17.95 (03) paper 1998 $35.00 (02) cloth

Beowulf
KEVIN CROSSLEY-HOLLAND
Illustrated by CHARLES KEEPING


This is the story of a young man who travelled far across the sea to fight two terrifying monsters-one who could rip a man apart and drink his blood, the other who lived like a sea-wolf at the bottom of a dark, blood-stained lake. The young hero's name was Beowulf, and his story, first written in Anglo-Saxon in the eighth century, has become one of the world's most famous epics. Kevin Crossley-Holland retells the story for children in quick-paced, rhythmical prose accompanied by Charles Keeping's striking illustrations. Together they bring to life the beauty and power of one of the first great English poems.

"Asks to be placed immediately in the hands of every child...reads aloud resoundingly."--The School Librarian

"The strong, alliterative prose has something of the same quality as the splendid Old English verse. A remarkable achievement."--Children's Books of the Year
48 pp.; 23 b/w illus; 0-19-272369-3 1999 $10.95 (03) paper

Robinson Crusoe
DANIEL DEFOE
With an introduction by J. M. COETZEE

Beautifully produced original format hardback World's Classics novel introduced by J.M.Coetzee

Robinson Crusoe (1719) is one of the most famous adventure stories ever written. The account of a sailor shipwrecked on a desert island for twenty-eight years, it is also a tale of mythic proportions, an allegory, and a spiritual autobiography.

320 pp.; 0-19-210033-5 1999 $13.50 (02)

Great Expectations
CHARLES DICKENS
With an introduction by ALAN SILLITOE


Beautifully produced original format hardback World's Classics introduced by Alan Sillitoe

Published in 1860, Great Expectations is perhaps the most compelling coming-of-age story in the language, telling the tale of the forsaken Pip as he makes his way through a London crowded with unforgettable characters: the convict Magwitch, the mysterious Miss Havisham and her ward, the arrogant, beautiful Estella.
544 pp.; 0-19-210034-3 1999 $16.00 (02)

Oliver Twist
CHARLES DICKENS
Edited by KATHLEEN TILLOTSON
Introduction and notes by STEPHEN GILL


Oliver Twist is a classic tale of a boy of unknown parentage born in a workhouse and brought up under the cruel conditions to which pauper children were exposed in the Victorian England. With this novel, Dickens did not merely write a topical satire on the workhouse system and the role of the 1834 New Poor Law in fostering criminality. He created a moral fable about the survival of good, a romance, and a gripping story in which he exploited suspense and violence more effectively than any of his contemporaries.
The new Oxford World's Classics edition of Oliver Twist is based on the authoritative Clarendon edition, which uses Dickens's revised text of 1846. It includes his preface of 1841 in which he defended himself against hostile criticism, and includes all twenty-four original illustrations by George Cruikshank. Stephen Gill's groundbreaking introduction gives a fascinating new account of the novel. He also provides appendices on Dickens and Cruikshank, on Dickens's Preface and the Newgate Novel Controversy, on Oliver Twist and the New Poor Law and on thieves' slang.

544 pp.; frontispiece, & 24 b/w sketches; 0-19-283339-1 1999 $5.95 (03) paper

The Letters of Charles Dickens
The Pilgrim Edition
Volume 11: 1865-1867
Edited by GRAHAM STOREY
Assistant Editor: MARGARET BROWN
Consultant Editor: KATHLEEN TILLOTSON


This eleventh volume presents 1158 of Charles Dickens's letters, many previously unpublished or published only in part, from 1865 to 1867. Dickens's main work during this period was the completion of the monthly parts of Our Mutual Friend (final part 31 October 1865, for November) which came out in two volumes (January and November 1865) during its run.

The letters offer fascinating insights into Dickenss personality and creative powers, and into his friendships and family relations

Contains letters relating to the railway crash at Staplehurst, Kent, in June 1865, in which Dickens helped the injured

The edition has been warmly praised by reviewers

600 pp.; frontispiece; 0-19-812295-0 February 2000 $125.00 (06) Tentative

Tales of the Elders of Ireland
Translated with an Introduction and Notes by ANN DOOLEY, University of Toronto and at the Centre for Medieval Studies, and HARRY ROE, University of Toronto

The first complete translation of the late Middle Irish Acallam na Senorach

"'Dear holy cleric,' they said, 'these old warriors tell you no more than a third of their stories, because their memories are faulty. Have these stories written down on poets' tablets in refined language, so that the hearing of them will provide entertainment for the lords and commons of later times.' The angels then left them."
Tales of the Elders of Ireland is the first complete translation of the late Middle Irish Acallam na Senórach, the largest literary text surviving from twelfth-century Ireland. It contains the earliest and most comprehensive collection of Fenian stories and poetry, intermingling the contemporary Christian world of Saint Patrick with his scribes, clerics, occasional angels and souls rescued from Hell, the earlier pagan world of the ancient, giant Fenians and Irish kings, and the parallel, timeless Otherworld, peopled by ever-young, shape-shifting fairies.
This readable and flowing new translation is based on existing manuscript sources and is richly annotated, complete with an Introduction discussing the place of the Acallam in Irish tradition and the impact of the Fenian or Ossianic tradition on English and European literature.

304 pp.; 5 maps; 0-19-283918-7 1999 $12.95 (03) paper

The Lifted Veil: Brother Jacob
GEORGE ELIOT
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by HELEN SMALL, Pembroke College, Oxford


First published in Blackwood's Magazine in 1859, "The Lifted Veil" is now one of George Eliot's most widely read and critically discussed short stories. A dark fantasy drawing on contemporary scientific interest in the physiology of the brain, mesmerism, phrenology, and experiments in revification, it is Eliot's anatomy of her own moral philsophy. Narrated by an egocentric, morbid young clairvoyant man, the story also explores fiction's ability to offer insight into the self, as well as being a remarkable portrait of an artist whose visionary powers merely blight his life.
Published as a companion piece to "The Lifted Veil," "Brother Jacob" is by contrast Eliot's literary homage to Thackeray, a satirical modern fable that draws telling parallels between eating and reading. With an illuminating introduction by Helen Small, this Oxford World's Classics edition makes newly available two fascinating short stories which fully deserve to be read alongside Eliot's novels.

160 pp.; 2 line drawings; 0-19-283295-6 1999 $8.95 (03) paper

Play Resumed
A Journal
D. J. ENRIGHT

This volume has the same breadth, the same wide range of reference, the same revealing pronouncements as its successful predecessor, Interplay: a Kind of Commonplace Book (OUP 1995). It's very funny, very serious,and notable for its good sense and wisdom. From religion to soap opera, computers to childhood, D. J. Enright observes keenly, sardonically, always sympathetically.
224 pp.; 0-19-288108-6 1999 $29.95 (06)

Joseph Andrews and Shamela
New Edition
HENRY FIELDING
Edited with an introduction by THOMAS KEYMER

Henry Fielding wrote both Joseph Andrews (1742) and Shamela (1741) in response to Samuel Richardson's book Pamela (1740), of which Shamela is a splendidly bawdy travesty. Joseph Andrews begins as a parody, too, but soon outgrows its origins, and its deepest roots lie in Cervantes and Marivaux. In both stories, Fielding demonstrates his concern for the corruption of contemporary society, politics, religion, morality, and taste.
This revised and expanded edition follows the text of Joseph Andrews established by Martin C. Battestin for the definitive Wesleyan Edition of Fielding's works. The text of Shamela is based on the first edition, and two substantial appendices reprint the preliminary matter from the second edition of Richardson's Pamela and Conyers Middleton's Life of Cicero, which is also closely parodied in Shamela. This Oxford World's Classics edition also features a new introduction by Thomas Keymer which situates Fielding's works in their critical and historical contexts.

464 pp.; 0-19-283343-X 1999 $8.95 (03) paper

Thomas Hoccleve's Complaint and Dialogue
Edited with an introduction by J. A. BURROW, University of Bristol

Thomas Hoccleve's Series, written c.1420 was edited for EETS in 1892. This is a new edition of the first two sections and glosses the poems more fully than before. The introduction presents new findings about Hoccleve, whose poems have attracted much attention in recent years.
207 pp.; 2 halftones; 0-19-722317-6 November 1999 $65.00 (06)

The Letters of Thomas Love Peacock
Volume 1
Edited by NICHOLAS A. JOUKOVSKY

Thomas Love Peacock was a lifelong and assiduous letter writer at a time when the letter was often an art-form in itself. He had a wide circle of friends and correspondents which included Shelley and many Radicals of the early nineteeth century. For the first time, this two volume edition gathers together Peacock's extensive correspondence with scholarly annotation.
512 pp.; 0-19-812658-1 November 1999 $130.00 (06) Tentative

The Letters of Thomas Love Peacock
Volume 2
Edited by NICHOLAS A. JOUKOVSKY

Thomas Love Peacock was a lifelong and assiduous letter writer at a time when the letter was often an art-form in itself. He had a wide circle of friends and correspondents which included Shelley and many Radicals of the early nineteeth century. For the first time, this two volume edition gathers together Peacock's extensive correspondence with scholarly annotation.
512 pp.; 0-19-818633-9 November 1999 $130.00 (06) Tentative

Women Beware Women
And Other Plays
THOMAS MIDDLETON
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by RICHARD DUTTON

This volume contains Thomas Middleton's four greatest plays, "A Chaste Maid in Cheapside," "Women Beware Women," "The Changeling," and "A Game at Chess." "A Chaste Maid in Cheapside" is the most complex and effective of the city comedies. "Women Beware Women" and "The Changeling" (with William Rowley) are two of the most powerful Jacobean tragedies aside from Shakespeare, studies in lust, power, violence, and self-delusive psychology. "A Game at Chess" was the single most popular play of the whole Shakespearean era, a satirical expose of Jesuit plotting and Anglo-Spanish politics which played to packed houses at the Globe until King James and his ministers banned it. With the most up-to-date introduction available, this volume offers all the play texts newly edited with richly informative annotation.
530 pp.; 0-19-282614-X 1999 $14.95 (03) paper

Three Early Modern Utopias
Thomas More: Utopia / Francis Bacon: New Atlantis / Henry Neville: The Isle of Pines
Edited with notes by SUSAN BRUCE, Keele University

With the publication of Utopia (1516), Thomas More provided a scathing analysis of the shortcomings of his own society, a realistic suggestion for an alternative mode of social organization, and a satire on unrealistic idealism. Enormously influential, it remains a challenging as well as a playful text. This edition reprints Ralph Robinson's 1556 translation from More's original Latin together with letters and illustrations that accompanied early editions of Utopia.
This edition also includes two other, hitherto less accessible, utopian narratives. New Atlantis (1627) offers a fictional illustration of Francis Bacon's visionary ideal of the role that science should play in the modern society. Henry Neville's The Isle of Pines (1668), a precursor of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, engages with some of the sexual, racial, and colonialist anxieties of the end of the early modern period. Bringing together these three New World texts, and situating them in wider Renaissance context, this edition-- including letters, maps, alphabets that accompanied early editions--illustrates the diversity of the early modern utopian imagination, as well as the different purposes to which it could be put.

320 pp.; 4 line drawings; 0-19-283885-7 March 2000 $9.95 (03) paper

A Historical Guide to Ralph Waldo Emerson
Edited by JOEL MYERSON

There is no question that Emerson has maintained his place as one of the seminal figures in American history and literature. In his time, he was the acknowledged leader of the Transcendentalist movement and his poetic legacy, education ideals, and religious concepts are integral to the formation of American intellectual life. In this volume, Joel Myerson, one of the leading experts on this period, has gathered together sparkling new essays that discuss Emerson as a product of his times. Individual chapters provide an extended biographical study of Emerson and his effect on American life, followed by studies of his concept of individualism, nature and natural science, religion, antislavery, and women's rights.
336 pp.; 26 photos; 5-1/2 x 8-1/4; 0-19-512093-0 December 1999 $35.00 (06) Tentative
cloth December 1999 $16.95 (01) Tentative paper

Reading 1922
A Return to the Scene of the Modern
MICHAEL NORTH

Recreates the explosive world of 1922, when movies, music, ads, news sensations, and history were woven into the literature of the time

This engaging study returns to a truly remarkable year, the year in which both Ulysses and The Waste Land were published, in which The Great Gatsby was set, and during which the Fascisti took over in Italy, the Irish Free State was born, the Harlem Renaissance reached its peak, Charlie Chaplin's popularity crested, and King Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered. In short, the year which not only in hindsight became the primal scene of literary modernism but which served as the cradle for a host of major political and aesthetic transformations resonating around the globe.
In his previous study, the acclaimed Dialect of Modernism (OUP, 1994), Michael North looked at the racial and linguistic struggles over the English language which gave birth to the many strains of modernism. Here, he expands his vision to encompass the global stage, and tells the story of how books changed the future of the world as we know it in one unforgettable year.

Ranges widely between philosophy and field anthropology, public relations and modernist literature, popular culture and the arts public relations

Includes readings of such neglected authors as John Cournos and Anzia Yezierska
288 pp.; 17 halftones; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; 0-19-512720-X 1999 $35.00 (01)

The Highwayman
New Edition
ALFRED NOYES
Illustrated by CHARLES KEEPING


Alfred Noyes's famous poem still has the power to thrill us as we read the story of the highwayman and his doomed love for Bess, the landlord's black-eyed daughter. This classic story of sacrifice in the name of true love has been a favorite with generations of young readers. The powerful, evocative language of Alfred Noyes's verses echoes through the centuries, complemented by Charles Keeping's dazzling illustrations which won this book the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1982.
32 pp.; 0-19-272370-7 1999 $10.95 (03) paper

Adeline Mowbray
AMELIA OPIE
Edited by SHELLEY KING and JOHN PIERCE

Personal as well as political, Adeline Mowbray (1804) is loosely based on the relationship between Amelia Opie's friends, Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin. Written in a period of conservative reaction in Britain, the novel recalls the earlier radical era of the 1790s. Encouraged by her mother to pursue an interest in radical social ideas, Adeline Mowbray innocently puts her theories of idealized love into practice. Her attempt to live with the philosopher Frederic Glenmurray outside marriage is condemned by both her mother and society. Adeline and Glenmurray's relationship becomes the focal point for Opie's satire on society's attitudes to education, women, marriage, masculine and feminine codes of honour, filial loyalty and the struggle to justify individual choice. This Oxford World's Classics volume is currently the only critical edition of Adeline Mowbray available.
304 pp.; 0-19-283330-8 March 2000 $12.95 (03) Tentative paper

The Wild Irish Girl
A National Tale
SYDNEY OWENSON, (Lady Morgan)
Edited with an Introduction and Notes by KATHRYN KIRKPATRICK

"I long to study the purely national, purely natural character of an Irishwoman." When Horatio, the son of an English lord, is banished to his father's Irish estate as punishment for his dissipated ways, he goes off in search of adventure. On the wild west coast of Connaught he finds remnants of a romantic Gaelic past--a dilapidated castle, a Catholic priest, a deposed king and the king's lovely daughter Glorvina. In this setting and among these characters Horatio learns the history, culture, and language of a country he had once scorned, but he must do so in disguise, for his own English ancestors are responsible for the ruin of the Gaelic family he comes to love.
Written after the Act of Union, The Wild Irish Girl. (1806) is a passionately nationalistic novel and a founding text in the discourse of Irish nationalism. This unique paperback edition includes the 'Introductory Letters' to the novel as well as Owenson's footnotes, rich in detail on the Irish language, history, and legend.

304 pp.; 0-19-283283-2 1999 $10.95 (03) paper

King Arthur
Retold by JAMES RIORDAN
Illustrated by VICTOR G. AMBRUS


In this splendid retelling of the Arthurian legend in the Oxford Illustrated Classics series, James Riordan captures all the magic and mystery of the splendid kingdom of Camelot. The magician Merlin, the sword Excalibur, the Lady of the Lake, the beautiful Guinevere, the knights of the Round Table, Lancelot, the Green Knight, and all the other characters from Camelot spring to life in Victor Ambrus's colorful recreations of the lost world of King Arthur. Beginning when the evil Vortigern poisons his father, the story of King Arthur follows young Arthur's escape in the arms of the magician Merlin, his education as a knight, his coronation after he pulls the sword from the stone, and his reign over Camelot amongst the Knights of the Round Table.

"Black-and-white pictures alternate with those brightened by brilliant watercolors... An interesting interpretation of the English lore."--Booklist

"Riordan's clear and powerful language and Ambrus' illustrations will raise goose pimples in this excellent retelling."--Yellow Brick Road

"The language is formal and distant, as befits a legend, and lovely illustrations complement the text."--VOYA

"A fascinating and magical rendition, fully supported by the dynamic and atmospheric pictures of Victor G. Ambrus."--The Commercial Appeal

96 pp.; 22 color & 24 b/w drawings; 0-19-274177-2 1999 $12.95 (03) paper

King Henry VIII
Or All is True
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Edited by JAY L. HALIO, University of Delaware


This is the first fully annotated and comprehensive modern-spelling edition of King Henry VIII to appear for over a decade. It makes full use of current scholarship on the dating, authorship, printing, and sources of the play, as well as critical interpretations. The editor concludes that Shakespeare and his younger colleague John Fletcher worked on the script together but that Shakespeare was probably the guiding spirit.

Clear and comprehensive annotation for the student

Introduction explores Shakespeare's collaboration with John Fletcher, their historical sources, and the history of the play in performance
240 pp.; 6 illus.; 0-19-813001-5 February 2000 $80.00 (06) Tentative

Coriolanus
School Edition
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Edited by ROMA GILL


The latest addition to our highly acclaimed Oxford School Shakespeare series, Coriolanus is probably the Bard's last tragedy, written about 1608. Set in ancient Rome, it follows the life of Roman general Coriolanus, who betrays his country and leads a barbarian army against his own people to avenge his honor. Featuring numerous illustrations and photographs from performances all over the world, the play is fully annotated with notes directly facing the text.
Helpful sections at the front of the book include a plot summary, an introductory essay which places this work against its historical background, and a brief discussion of the characters in the play. Comprehension questions for students, a biographical summary of Shakespeare's life, and a detailed index are contained among the appendices. Finally, the large print and wide-margin format complete what is the most comprehensive, clear, and least intimidating exposure to Shakespeare for young adults.

208 pp.; 62 b/w figures; 0-19-832005-1 1999 $7.95 (03) paper

Shakespeare's Twenty-First Century Economics
The Morality of Love and Money
FREDERICK TURNER, University of Texas at Dallas

"I love you according to my bond," says Cordelia to her father in King Lear. As the play turns out, Cordelia proves to be an exemplary and loving daughter. A bond is both a legal or financial obligation, and a connection of mutual love. How are these things connected? In As You Like It, Shakespeare describes marriage as a "blessed bond of board and bed": the emotional, religious, and sexual sides of marriage cannot be detached from its status as a legal and economic contract.
These examples are the pith of Frederick Turner's fascinating new book. Based on the proven maxim that "money makes the world go round," this engaging study draws from Shakespeare's texts to present a lexicon of common words, as well as a variety of familiar familial and cultural situations, in an economic context. Making constant recourse to well-known material from Shakespeare's plays, Turner demonstrates that the terms of money and value permeate our minds and lives even in our most mundane moments. His book offers a new, humane, evolutionary economics that fully expresses the moral, spiritual, and aesthetic relationships among persons, and between humans and nature. Playful and incisive, Turner's book offers a way to engage the wisdom of Shakespeare in everyday life in a trenchant prose that is accessible to lovers of Shakespeare at all levels.

232 pp.; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; 0-19-512861-3 1999 $35.00 (01)

The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde
Volume 1: Poems and Poems in Prose
Edited by BOBBY FONG and KARL BECKSON, Brooklyn College, CUNY

This volume of Poems and Poems in Prose inaugurates the Oxford English Texts Complete Works of Oscar Wilde. It provides texts of Wilde's one-hundred and nineteen poems and poems in prose, including twenty-one never published in his lifetime, together with the publishing history of each poem, and a detailed commentary on allusions and echoes, imagery, and points of biographical interest.
520 pp.; 0-19-811960-7 December 1999 $120.00 (06) Tentative

The Bremen Town Band
BRIAN WILDSMITH

This is the story of how the donkey, the dog, the cat, and the cockerel all met one fine day. They liked each other and quickly became friends. Then they decided it would be fun to go and join the Bremen Town Band. And off they went down the highway, singing and joking together. On the way to Bremen, however, they passed through a forest where the most incredible adventure awaited them. There was a house in that forest and inside the house there were some robbers and... World-renowned children's illustrator and author Brian Wildsmith retells and illustrates the well-known tale by the Brothers Grimm in all the glowing colors of an early summer's day. Bright drawings fill every page in this fine edition that is bound to delight and entertain children everywhere with the glorious adventures of the four friends.
32 pp.; color illus.; 0-19-279034-X 1999 $16.95 (03)



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