Goldsmith: Selected Essays

by O. Goldsmith , Edited by J. H. Lobban

• ISBN13: 9780521126700
• ISBN10: 0521126703
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-11
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Oliver Goldsmith, described in a eulogy written by Dr. Johnson as 'a poet, naturalist, and historian, who left scarcely any style of writing untouched', became one of the great figures of the eighteenth-century literary scene. A character as absurd as he was talented, Goldsmith was best known for his novels, poems and plays, such as The Vicar of Wakefield (1766) and She Stoops to Conquer (1771). Yet Goldsmith also composed a number of excellent essays. As this volume's editor J. H. Lobban argues, 'there is not a single feature of [The Vicar of Wakefield's] style that you will not find ... in his essays'. This volume, originally published in 1910, brings together thirty-two of the Anglo-Irish writer's critical essays, with an aim to illustrate the variety and vibrancy of his prose. These essays are not only characterised by their beauty and lucidity, but by the creative genius of their composer.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

'English Pride'

'Characteristics of Different Countries'

'A Visit to Westminster Abbey'

'The Character of the Man in Black'

'The History of the Man in Black'

'A Description of a Club of Authors'

'The Proceedings of the Club of Authors'

'Sights and Monsters'

'A Bookseller's Visit'

'The Character of Beau Tibbs'

'A Visit to Beau Tibbs'

'Happiness and Show'

'Mad Dogs'

'An Evening at Vauxhall'

'A Little Great Man'

'Anecdotes of Poets'

'Imitation in Literature'

'The Courts of Justice'

'A Coronation'

'Funeral Elegies'

'Finding Famous Men'

'A City Night-Piece'

'Travellers' Tales'

'A Reverie'

'The Sentiments of a Frenchman on the Temper of the English'

'The Characteristics of Greatness'

'An Account of the Augustan Age of England'

'National Prejudices'

'Adventures of a Strolling Player'

'On the Use of Language'

'Independence'

'At the Play'

Notes

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