Romanticism and the Letter is a collection of essays that explore various aspects of letter writing in the Romantic period of British Literature. Although the correspondence of the Romantics constitutes a major literary achievement in its own right, it has received relatively little critical attention. Essays focus on the letters of major poets, including Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley and Keats; novelists and prose writers, including Jane Austen, Leigh Hunt and Charles Lamb; and lesser-known writers such as Melesina Trench and Mary Leadbeater. Moving from theories of letter writing, through the period's diverse epistolary culture, to essays on individual writers, the collection opens new perspectives for students and scholars of the Romantic period.
"This volume actually has a great deal to offer students and academics ... . Each chapter makes a welcome contribution to the growing interest in Romantic period correspondence in various forms. ... After reading the range of new perspectives and innovative scholarship in Romanticism and the Letter, it is abundantly clear that this is an exciting time to be 'rethink[ing] the value of letters' in Romantic studies." (Crystal Biggin, The Charles and Mary Lamb Journal, Issue 1, Summer, 2024)
"If the letters of Romantic period authors have for the most part been viewed as a supplement to the creative work, valuable for substance to the exclusion of literary qualities, Romanticism and the Letter does much to challenge this misconception while opening the way to further critical work on the epistolary culture and aesthetics of the early nineteenth century." (Mary A. Waters, Biography, Vol. 45 (1), 2022)
"This volume is a timely contribution to larger trends in literary and media studies. ... Romanticism and the Letter shows how important letter writing and epistolarity were to key Romantic authors, and opens a field for further explorations of Romantic epistolary culture." (Rachael Scarborough King, Eighteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 34 (3), 2022)
"If the letters of Romantic period authors have for the most part been viewed as a supplement to the creative work, valuable for substance to the exclusion of literary qualities, Romanticism and the Letter does much to challenge this misconception while opening the way to further critical work on the epistolary culture and aesthetics of the early nineteenth century." (Mary A. Waters, Biography, Vol. 45 (1), 2022)
"This volume is a timely contribution to larger trends in literary and media studies. ... Romanticism and the Letter shows how important letter writing and epistolarity were to key Romantic authors, and opens a field for further explorations of Romantic epistolary culture." (Rachael Scarborough King, Eighteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 34 (3), 2022)