Anna Barbauld, The British Novelists

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In 1810, the London bookselling firm of F. C. and J. Rivington and their associates brought out a handsomely bound and pricey fifty volume collection of twenty-five novels spanning the previous century of British literature. Entitled

The British Novelists

, the publication constituted a landmark in the history of the British novel. No collection that professed to offer complete texts of a definitive set of exclusively British novels had as yet made its way to the public. A few ostensibly authoritative collections of poetry had been published, most notably Samuel Johnson’s

Works of the English Poets

(1779-81). International anthologies and selections of abridged British novels had appeared, as had complete works of a number of British authors. Novels, usually abridged, were also included…

1602 words

Citation: Waters, Mary. "The British Novelists". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1376, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1376 The British Novelists 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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