The Age of Authors

Eighteenth-century critics differed about almost everything, but if there was one point on which they almost universally agreed, it was that they were living through an age of extraordinary change. The texts in this collection respond to a series of fundamental questions about the changing nature of the literary field during a tumultuous age: What types of writing mattered in a thriving commercial nation? What kinds of knowledge ought literature to offer, if it was to continue to be relevant? What did it mean to be an author in this busy modern world, and what sorts of social distinction should authors expect to enjoy?

The Age of Authors explores the complexity, sophistication, and creativity with which the eighteenth century literary community (or "republic of letters") responded to the challenges of the time.

  • Add
    Acknowledgements and Introduction
    Ed. Paul Keen
    8 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.96
  • Add
    A Timeline of Major Political and Legal Events
    Ed. Paul Keen
    1 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.12
  • Add
    A Note on the Texts
    Ed. Paul Keen
    2 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.24
  • Add
    Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) A Tale of a Tub (1704)
    Jonathan Swift
    5 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.60
  • Add
    Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) Essays upon Several Projects: Or, Effectual Ways for Advancing the Interest of the Nation (1702)
    Daniel Defoe
    9 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.08
  • Add
    Richard Steele (1672-1729) and Joseph Addison (1672-1719) The Spectator (1711-14)
    Richard Steele and Joseph Addison
    24 pages @ $0.12/page
    $2.88
  • Add
    Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762) Letters (1724)
    Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
    11 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.32
  • Add
    Ephraim Chambers (1680-1740) Cyclopadia: Or, an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1728) Preface
    Ephraim Chambers
    7 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.84
  • Add
    The Grub-Street Journal (1730-37)
    Anonymous
    16 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.92
  • Add
    Henry Fielding (1707-54) The Author’s Farce (1730)
    Henry Fielding
    55 pages @ $0.12/page
    $6.60
  • Add
    Alexander Pope (1688-1744) An Epistle from Mr. Pope, to Dr. Arbuthnot (1735)
    Alexander Pope
    15 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.80
  • Add
    David Hume (1711-76) Essays, Moral and Political (1742) “Of Essay-Writing”
    David Hume
    4 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.48
  • Add
    David Hume (1711-76) Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects (1760) “Of Refinement in the Arts”
    David Hume
    4 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.48
  • Add
    Eliza Haywood (c. 1693-1756) The Female Spectator (1744–46)
    Eliza Haywood
    7 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.84
  • Add
    Sarah Fielding (1710-68) The Governess (1749)
    Sarah Fielding
    6 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.72
  • Add
    Samuel Johnson (1709-84) The Rambler (1750–52)
    Samuel Johnson
    29 pages @ $0.12/page
    $3.48
  • Add
    Samuel Johnson (1709-84) The Adventurer (1752–54)
    Samuel Johnson
    4 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.48
  • Add
    The World. By Adam Fitz-Adam. (1753-56)
    Adam Fitz-Adam
    17 pages @ $0.12/page
    $2.04
  • Add
    The Connoisseur by Mr. Town, Critic and Censor-General (1754-56)
    Anonymous
    23 pages @ $0.12/page
    $2.76
  • Add
    Oliver Goldsmith (1730-74) The Bee. Being Essays on the Most Interesting Subjects (1759)
    Oliver Goldsmith
    12 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.44
  • Add
    Oliver Goldsmith (1730-74) Citizen of the World; or Letters from a Chinese Philosopher Residing in London to His Friends in the East (1762)
    Oliver Goldsmith
    13 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.56
  • Add
    James Ralph (d. 1762) The Case of Authors By Profession or Trade, Stated (1758)
    James Ralph
    6 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.72
  • Add
    Elizabeth Montagu (1718-1800) An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Shakespear (1769)
    Elizabeth Montagu
    5 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.60
  • Add
    Hester Chapone (1727-1801) Letters on the Improvement of the Mind (1773)
    Hester Chapone
    14 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.68
  • Add
    Catherine Macaulay (1731-91) A Modest Plea for the Property of Copy Right (1774)
    Catherine Macaulay
    10 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.20
  • Add
    Hannah More (1745-1833) Essays on Various Subjects, Principally Designed for Young Ladies (1777)
    Hannah More
    5 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.60
  • Add
    Vicesimus Knox (1752-1821) Essays, Moral and Literary (1778)
    Vicesimus Knox
    12 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.44
  • Add
    Vicesimus Knox (1752-1821) Winter Evenings; or, Lucubrations on Life and Letters (1788)
    Vicesimus Knox
    22 pages @ $0.12/page
    $2.64
  • Add
    The Mirror. A Periodical Paper, Published at Edinburgh in the Years 1779 and 1780
    Anonymous
    10 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.20
  • Add
    The Lounger (1785-86)
    Anonymous
    20 pages @ $0.12/page
    $2.40
  • Add
    Clara Reeve (1729-1807) The Progress of Romance, Through Times, Countries, and Manners (1785)
    Clara Reeve
    23 pages @ $0.12/page
    $2.76
  • Add
    The Microcosm, A Periodical Work, by Gregory Griffin, Of the College of Eton (1786-87)
    Gregory Griffin
    26 pages @ $0.12/page
    $3.12
  • Add
    Isaac D'Israeli (1766-1848) An Essay on the Manners and Genius of the Literary Character (1795)
    Isaac D'Israeli
    16 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.92
  • Add
    List of Major Figures, Places, and Terms
    Ed. Paul Keen
    11 pages @ $0.12/page
    $1.32
  • Add
    Editions Used & Works Cited and Suggested Further Reading
    Ed. Paul Keen
    4 pages @ $0.12/page
    $0.48