Early Journals And Letters Of Fanny Burney Volume 4

Volume IV of The Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney, covering the years 1780-1781, will be of particular interest to students of Burney as it marks the young author's introduction into the world following the astonishing success of her novel Evelina (1778) and includes her visits to Streatham and her encounters with Hester and Henry Thrale and Dr Johnson. It was an exciting period in her life, which she managed to enjoy despite struggling to repeat her first success while avoiding the often unwelcome attention it brought. But it was also a difficult period in her family life as she dealt with jealous interference by her stepmother, the courtship of her sister Susan by a man she considered untrustworthy, and the misbehaviour of her brothers. Burney's enthusiasm makes the most of her experiences and she describes characters and scenes with all the genius displayed in her novels. Her descriptions contain the four great attributes that distinguish her novels: brilliant handling of detail, total and full recall of conversations characteristic of the speaker, sensibility and empathy for others, and great relish for the ridiculous wherever it occurred.

This third of 12 projected volumes of a critical edition of English novelist Burney's (1752-1840) journals and letters covers the period from January 1778 to December 1779, the period following the publication of Evelina, or, a Young Lady's Entrance into the World, a universally acclaimed novel that led admirers to place Burney in the ranks of Fielding and Richardson. It reveals Burney's striking transformation to a "celebrity" as she is welcomed into London's literary society, and her mixed delight and terror at this reception. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Stewart J. Cooke teaches English at Dawson College --Book Jacket.

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At the beginning of 1778 twenty-five-year-old Fanny Burney was an unknown. By year's end, however, she had emerged as the author of Evelina, or, A Young Lady's Entrance into the World, a universally acclaimed novel which admirers ranked with the works of Fielding and Richardson. This third of twelve projected volumes of a critical edition of Burney's journals and letters covers the period from January 1778 to December 1779. It reveals Burney's striking transformation to a "celebrity" as she is welcomed into London's literary society, and her mixed delight and terror at this reception. As Burney becomes a regular at the Streatham Park home of Henry and Hester Thrale, she is befriended by another regular visitor, Samuel Johnson, and given the opportunity to observe and record the playful and affectionate side of Johnson's character, a side largely missed by Boswell. Burney is urged by the Streathamites to write a comedy for the London stage and responds with "The Witlings," a satiric portrait of London's bluestockings. Alarmed by the prospect of disapproval from the powerful bluestocking Elizabeth Montagu, Burney's father and her friend Samuel Crisp dissuade her from releasing the piece. Her disappointment is eased by the whirling social life that she enjoys in the company of the Thrales at Streatham and at Brighton, on which she comments with characteristic perception and humour. Fanny Burney's journals and letters are an invaluable source for the social and literary history of her time, and are justly regarded as literature in their own right. All volumes in this series will be of specific interest to scholars in literary criticism, feminist studies, and music and social history.

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