Hannah More, Coelebs in Search of a Wife

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Hannah More (1745-1833) had been a celebrated author for many years before publishing her only novel

Coelebs in Search of a Wife

in 1808. She began her literary career as a young playwright under the tutelage of David Garrick, wrote numerous verses, then, in coming to embrace the Evangelical Christianity that would define the latter half of her life and work, turned to moral treatises and tracts written for every class of late-eighteenth century English society. It was in this latter body of work, specifically the stories and tales of the Cheap Repository Tracts (1795-1798), written for the newly literate laboring classes, that More found a model for the novel she would publish a decade later. This model is one that combines entertainment and instruction, a formula that More had pioneered…

1801 words

Citation: Prior, Karen Swallow. "Coelebs in Search of a Wife". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 August 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23714, accessed 19 March 2024.]

23714 Coelebs in Search of a Wife 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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