Sir Charles Grandison 4 Volume Set

The comprehensive scholarly edition of The History of Sir Charles Grandison, the most important English courtship novel before Austen.

The History of Sir Charles Grandison was the most important English courtship novel before Austen, hugely influencing the comedy of manners genre. This edition of Richardson's final novel provides comprehensive general and textual introductions, indispensable for literary scholars of the period, along with extensive notes and annotations.One of the most important novels of the eighteenth-century, Sir Charles Grandison [1753] shaped the English courtship novel, and was loved and admired by both Jane Austen and George Eliot. The book follows the life of Sir Charles, a man parallel in virtue with Richardson's female paragons Clarissa and Pamela; and a response to the fallible protagonist Tom Jones in Fielding's popular satire of moralising novels. Forming part of the first full scholarly edition of Richardson's complete works, comprehensive general and textual introductions significantly revise and advance understanding of the composition and printing history of Richardson's final novel, and reveal the central place of Sir Charles in the literature of the period. Including Richardson's Historical Index for the first time in any edition, extensive annotations and expansive notes also give readers crucial context, and provides scholars with paths to follow for future research.