Description
This edition includes all of the known surviving writings of the poet Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784), several of which have been discovered since the last attempt at a complete edition was published in 2001. Of the fifty-seven poems, as well as their authoritative variants, forty-six were published during her lifetime. Versions of nine of them were published before September 1773. Wheatley published thirty-eight works in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (London, 1773). Only seven of her poems were published between 1773 and her death in 1784. Eleven poems survive only in manuscript versions. This edition also includes all of Wheatley's extant prose writings: twenty-three letters and four subscription proposals. It includes as well the three known surviving letters written to Wheatley. Wheatley's writings are accompanied by an Introduction to her life and times, as well as extensive textual and explanatory notes.
About the Author
Vincent Carretta, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Maryland, specializes in eighteenth-century transatlantic historical and literary studies. In addition to more than one hundred articles and reviews on a range of eighteenth-century subjects, Carretta has published two books on verbal and visual Anglophone political satire between 1660 and 1820, as well as authoritative editions of the works of Olaudah Equiano, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, and other eighteenth-century transatlantic authors of African descent. Carretta's most recent books are Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man (2005); The Life and Letters of Philip Quaque, The First African Anglican Missionary (2010), co-edited with Ty M. Reese; and Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (2011). He is also the editor of Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (2015).
Reviews
Vincent Carretta's edition will be essential reading for anyone seriously interested in Wheatley Peters's life and work. .. The vanishing point of [Wheatley Peters's] work stands at the far side of the history of enslavement. Given that the poems do exist, the critical imperative is to think carefully about how, and under what conditions, they came to be. Carretta makes a crucial contribution to this project. * Andrea Haslanger, Eighteenth - Century Fiction *
This text leaves no stone unturned to provide a clear path for teaching the Wheatley corpus with the added benefit of drawing new and contemporary allusions to the study of "racism, sexism, and slavery", as "issues" that the early Black American poet "subtly and indirectly confronts"... Clearly, Writings is soon to become a standard for early American literature courses and one of the most practical, convenient, and useful classroom tools. * April Langley, University of Missouri-Columbia, Early American Literature *
This edition, prepared by the outstanding scholar in the field, supersedes previous collections from Julian D. Mason (1966; 1989), John C. Shields (1988) and Caretta himself (Penguin, 2001). It is the fullest in scope, with abundant bibliographical detail, and it takes advantage of the steady growth in secondary literature... the most generally informative and revealing edition that has ever appeared. * Pat Rogers, Author of The Poet and the Publisher: The Case of Alexander Pope, Esq., of Twickenham versus Edmund Curll, Bookseller in Grub Street, Times Literary Supplement *
The Writings of Phillis Wheatley is truly remarkable in its content and scope and will successfully take its rightful place as a key teaching tool, alongside becoming the new standard text for those interested in Wheatley Peters' work. * Amy Wilcockson, Romantic Textualities *
The Oxford Writings of Phillis Wheatley is as much a guidebook and prospectus as it is indispensable reference and definitive scholarly edition. * Meredith Marie Neuman, Clark University, Early Modern Women *
In 2010 and then again in 2021 ... Vincent Carretta asked what I had discovered in the archives, which certainly kept me on my toes. His careful scholarship did much more, and I must thank him for his broad shoulders. * David Waldstreicher, from The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journey through American Slavery and Independence *
Awards
Winner of Honorable Mention, Modern Language Association Prize for a Scholarly Edition, Modern Language Association.
Book Information
ISBN 9780198834991
Author Vincent Carretta
Format Hardback
Page Count 288
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 458g
Dimensions(mm) 217mm * 141mm * 22mm
About the Author
Vincent Carretta, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Maryland, specializes in eighteenth-century transatlantic historical and literary studies. In addition to more than one hundred articles and reviews on a range of eighteenth-century subjects, Carretta has published two books on verbal and visual Anglophone political satire between 1660 and 1820, as well as authoritative editions of the works of Olaudah Equiano, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano, and other eighteenth-century transatlantic authors of African descent. Carretta's most recent books are Equiano, the African: Biography of a Self-Made Man (2005); The Life and Letters of Philip Quaque, The First African Anglican Missionary (2010), co-edited with Ty M. Reese; and Phillis Wheatley: Biography of a Genius in Bondage (2011). He is also the editor of Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (2015).
Reviews
Vincent Carretta's edition will be essential reading for anyone seriously interested in Wheatley Peters's life and work. .. The vanishing point of [Wheatley Peters's] work stands at the far side of the history of enslavement. Given that the poems do exist, the critical imperative is to think carefully about how, and under what conditions, they came to be. Carretta makes a crucial contribution to this project. * Andrea Haslanger, Eighteenth - Century Fiction *
This text leaves no stone unturned to provide a clear path for teaching the Wheatley corpus with the added benefit of drawing new and contemporary allusions to the study of "racism, sexism, and slavery", as "issues" that the early Black American poet "subtly and indirectly confronts"... Clearly, Writings is soon to become a standard for early American literature courses and one of the most practical, convenient, and useful classroom tools. * April Langley, University of Missouri-Columbia, Early American Literature *
This edition, prepared by the outstanding scholar in the field, supersedes previous collections from Julian D. Mason (1966; 1989), John C. Shields (1988) and Caretta himself (Penguin, 2001). It is the fullest in scope, with abundant bibliographical detail, and it takes advantage of the steady growth in secondary literature... the most generally informative and revealing edition that has ever appeared. * Pat Rogers, Author of The Poet and the Publisher: The Case of Alexander Pope, Esq., of Twickenham versus Edmund Curll, Bookseller in Grub Street, Times Literary Supplement *
The Writings of Phillis Wheatley is truly remarkable in its content and scope and will successfully take its rightful place as a key teaching tool, alongside becoming the new standard text for those interested in Wheatley Peters' work. * Amy Wilcockson, Romantic Textualities *
The Oxford Writings of Phillis Wheatley is as much a guidebook and prospectus as it is indispensable reference and definitive scholarly edition. * Meredith Marie Neuman, Clark University, Early Modern Women *
In 2010 and then again in 2021 ... Vincent Carretta asked what I had discovered in the archives, which certainly kept me on my toes. His careful scholarship did much more, and I must thank him for his broad shoulders. * David Waldstreicher, from The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journey through American Slavery and Independence *
Awards
Winner of Honorable Mention, Modern Language Association Prize for a Scholarly Edition, Modern Language Association.
Book Information
ISBN 9780198834991
Author Vincent Carretta
Format Hardback
Page Count 288
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 458g
Dimensions(mm) 217mm * 141mm * 22mm
