This important new book explores epistolary forms and practices in relation to important areas of British culture. Familiar ideas about epistolary fiction and personal correspondence, and public and private, are re-examined in the light of alternative paradigms, showing how the letter is a genre at the centre of Eighteenth-century life.

About the Author
CLARE BRANT is a Senior Lecturer in English at King's College London, UK. She has previously held posts at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. She has co-edited three essay collections and published numerous articles on eighteenth-century literature and culture.

Reviews

Winner of the 2008 ESSE Book Award in the field of Literatures in the English Language

'[The] study is not a mere exploration of epistolary forms, but a lively introduction into a fascinating epoch, with its specific manners and life-style. The author's argument is engaging, bold and forceful, and its scope is really impressive.' - ESSE Book Award Committee

Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2006

'Brant makes illuminating connections between the practice of letter-writing and the development of print journalism... Eighteenth-Century Letters and British Culture is a dense book full of brilliant insights. It distils an immense amount of reading and fully vindicates its assertion of the cultural significance of letters.' - Times Literary Supplement

'...Clare Brant has produced a magisterial study of letters, an important and ground-breaking work...The breadth of coverage in this book is impressive, encompassing many kinds of epistolary exchange and a pleasing mix of obscure and well-known writers.' - Emma Major, Modern Language Review

Book Information
ISBN 9780230249080
Author Clare Brant
Format Paperback
Page Count 431
Imprint Palgrave Macmillan
Publisher Palgrave Macmillan