The Oxford Companion to English Literature

Beschrijving boek

Edited by Margaret Drabble. 

Sir Paul Harvey could scarcely have imagined, when he began to compile The Oxford Companion to English Literature in 1927, that he was creating the first of a continuing series of famous reference books. His exemplary work has itself retained the affection and respect of a readership which embraces the crossword addict seeking the name of some Jacobean heroine, the student needing a summary account of the life of Charles Dickens, the expert who has momentarily forgotten how Gaheris was related to King Arthur, and, perhaps most importantly, the ‘common reader’.

In this latest edition Margaret Drabble, with a team of distinguished contributors, has undertaken a fundamental revision of Sir Paul Harvey’s work while retaining the qualities for which it is valued [notably the useful plot summaries and the listing of fictional characters]. The entries for contemporary writers have been brought up to date and many of importance born up to 1939 have been added; earlier entries have been revised in the light of modern judgement and scholarship; and much bibliographical information is now offered. She has widened the Companion’s appeal by admitting to the canon topics once thought to be beyond the pale of literary respectability [comic strips, detective stories, science fiction, children’s literature]; many more foreign authors whose work is relevant to English culture are included; important composers who have drawn on English texts, and artists who have influenced or been influenced by the English literary consciousness make their appearance.