Maria Edgeworth, Popular Tales

Sharon Jude Murphy (St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra)
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Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) first published

Popular Tales

in 1804, and her father observed in the preface to the work that readers should not be mislead by the title to the collection:

The title … [was] chosen not as a presumptuous and premature claim to popularity, but from the wish that they may be current beyond circles which are sometimes exclusively considered as polite. The art of printing has opened to all classes of people various new channels of entertainment and information (1: iv-v).

The title … [was] chosen not as a presumptuous and premature claim to popularity, but from the wish that they may be current beyond circles which are sometimes exclusively considered as polite. The art of printing has opened to all classes of people various new channels of entertainment…

1058 words

Citation: Murphy, Sharon Jude. "Popular Tales". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 May 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2614, accessed 28 March 2024.]

2614 Popular Tales 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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