New and noteworthy - Book Review

Contemporary Review, Sept, 2003

In the field of literary studies we have from ROUTLEDGE a new addition to its Literary Sourcebooks' series: A Routledge Literary Sourcebook on the Poems of John Keats (45.00 [pounds sterling]) edited by John Strachan who reminds readers that in Keats' lifetime he and his poetry were highly controversial. This collection is designed to give students 'the critical tools needed to approach the poet's work'. The contents are divided into: Contexts, which include a valuable collection of contemporary letters and journal entries; Interpretations, which include both those in his short lifetime and later; Key Poems, with valuable notes; and, finally, Further Reading, which includes editions of the poems, biographies and critical works. Mr Strachan has met the high standards set by the editors of this series.

PALGRAVE, acting as the U.K. distributor of the U.S. publisher, Bedford/St. Martin's, has published a second edition of Ross Murfin and Supryia Ray's The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms (14.50 p.b. [pounds sterling]). This new edition, which includes seventy new terms to make a total exceeding 800, redefines old approaches 'in a concise and accessible manner' and also introduces 'the newest critical theories, approaches, and terminology'. For the first time the Glossary also includes visual examples 'to show that allusions can be visual as well as verbal'.

From ASHGATE we have a valuable new collection of essays into a little researched field: Didactic Literature in England 1500-1800: Expertise Constructed (45.00 [pounds sterling]) edited by Natasha Glaisyer and Sara Pennell. The ten chapters grew out of papers given before a conference held at Newnham College, Cambridge in 1998 and include discussions on gardening, cosmetics, the role of the colonies, learning French in eighteenth century England, the importance of music and of the Bible and a discussion of seventeenth century didactic readers. The editors are right to argue that these essays demonstrate 'the pleasures and profits of looking at the didactic character of early modern texts'. The essays also broaden our understanding and deepen our appreciation of an often neglected field.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS has recently published three new additions to its series of 'companions'. The first, in chronological order, is The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Women's Writing (45.00 [pounds sterling]) edited by Carolyn Dinshaw and David Wallace. The seventeen contributions are divided into three groups. The first deals with the 'estates' of women: their childhoods, 'virginities', widowhoods and friendships with other women. The second, which deals with 'texts and other spaces' looks at women as writers, the effects of enclosures, the work of women as housewives and their contributions to the life of the Church. The final section, entitled 'medieval women', is the largest and looks at 'particular women's lives and texts' and includes essays on Heloise, Marie de France, Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe among others. The second new title is The Cambridge Companion to Wordsworth (45.00 [pounds sterling]) edited by Prof. Stephen Gill. This collection of fifteen commissioned essays takes advantage of the renewed interest and scholarship in Wordsworth and the Romantics and looks at 'Wordsworth past and present'. There are essays surveying Wordsworth's life and poetry, essays examining specific works such as The Recluse and The Prelude, Wordsworth's craft as a poet, his philosophy and politics, his relations with Coleridge and with the world of nature, the importance of America and the now obligatory contribution on 'gender'. The last essay is a detailed examination of the various editions of Wordsworth's works. Altogether this new collection makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the poet and his world. The final new companion is The Cambridge Companion to Mozart (47.50 [pounds sterling]) edited by Simon P. Keefe. Its aim is to 'bridge the gap between scholarly and popular images of the composer by enhancing a reader's appreciation of Mozart and his remarkable output'. As the editor adds, 'Mozart and his music demand repeated scrutiny and interpretation' by each new generation. Of the seventeen essays here, the first four look at various aspects of Mozart's life whilst the next eight examine the different forms of composition--keyboard, orchestral, operatic and so on. Following these there are three essays looking at how Mozart's works were received in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and how our understanding of his life has developed. Finally there are two essays on Mozart as a performer and on the nature of performances during his lifetime. For anyone interested in the composer's sublime music this collection must become essential reading. Paperback versions are also available.

In a different field, ROUTLEDGE has recently brought out a new title by the moral philosopher, Mary Midgley: The Myths We Live By (19.99 [pounds sterling]) is a careful exammarion of 'the crucial importance of symbolism in all our thought and the resulting need to take our imaginative life seriously, even when we are dealing with what seem to be prosaic subjects'. As the success of J. R. R. Tolkien's and J. K. Rowling's books testifies, the mythic remains part of our literary landscape. Miss Midgley argues that myths are neither lies nor 'detached stories' but 'imaginative patterns, networks of powerful symbols that suggest particular ways of interpreting the world'. The twenty-seven chapters are made up of previously published articles by the author and cover everything from science, thought and action to human psychology, sex and social relations. As with her other books, this both stimulates and instructs with a facility envied by many other writers.