These studies are connected by common underlying themes: the sense of Providence, the growing awareness of its loss in the nineteenth century and the pressure on the ideal of Romantic love as that came increasingly to be treated as a substitute. Other questions are raised. Were Wordsworth's `Lucy' poems simply Romantic fictions, or did they mask the memory of an actual youthful attachment? What was the story behind the secret message which F. W. H. Myers left with the Society for Psychical Research, hoping to transmit it after his death? And what was it about the young Cambridge men George Eliot met in 1872 that made them particularly attractive to her? Investigation of these and other matters has led to close scrutiny of various manuscripts in British and American libraries, certain of which, including some letters of George Eliot recently discovered in Cambridge, are reproduced here for the first time.
Reviews
John Beer's latest book is distinguished by its close attention to biographical detail and mastery of archival material, a good deal of it previously unpublished. It is this detail - along with characteristic critical acumen - that make this collection of essays valuable to scholars of both the Romantic and Victorian periods. * British Association for Romantic Studies: Bulletin & Review *
Evocative and thoughtful ... Beer writes with great sensitivity about the place of fact in Wordsworth's imagination. * The Year's Work in English Studies *
The writing has an elegance and a drive ... The imaginative vigour, the intellectual excitement in all these essays demonstrates just what English studies, at their historically informed best, can achieve. * Robert Fraser, The Yearbook of English Studies *
A deeply fulfilling book, a fascinating and thought-provoking journey through strange regions of the Victorian psyche. Deceptively modest, it has far more to say than at first appears, for the implications of its narrative only gradually crystallize ... the result is a redefinition of Victorian aesthetics and morality which should be read by everyone interested in our relationship to the nineteeth century and its Romantic ancestors. * Notes and Queries *
The blend of literary criticism with historical and biographical detail is effective and engaging ... Beer's conclusions are founded on an impressive body of research, and he draws on many intriguing personal documents ... Beer frequently reproduces the whole text of letters and other archival material, thus providing a valuable resource for other readers ... of interest to all specialists in the literature and intellectual history of the 19th century. * Faye Hammill, Times Higher Education Supplement *



Book Information
ISBN 9780198184362
Author John Beer
Format Hardback
Page Count 352
Imprint Clarendon Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 1g
Dimensions(mm) 224mm * 144mm * 24mm