The William Makepeace Thackeray Library

First published in 1996, The William Makepeace Thackeray Library is a collection of works written by and about the novelist. This first volume contains extracts of William Makepeace Thackeray’s early fiction and journalism in the 1830s and 1840s. In his early career, Thackeray worked as an editor, sub-editor, writer, reviewer, foreign journalist, illustrator, versifier, and hack reporter, and by 1847 had managed to maintain an unbroken and multi-faceted literary output through magazines, journals and newspapers for fourteen years. With an introduction by Richard Pearson, this book reveals some of Thackeray’s early and lesser-known work. This book will be of interest to those studying Thackeray and nineteenth-century literature.

First published in 1996, The William Makepeace Thackeray Library is a collection of texts written by and about the novelist, which provide an insight into his life and works beyond his major novels such as Vanity Fair. It begins with some of Thackeray’s lesser-known journalistic work and travel writings and moves on to key works written about the author in the second half of the 19th century and at the turn of the 20th century. Each volume begins with an informative introduction by Richard Pearson, providing a brief analysis of each text and presenting the context in which it was written. This set will be of keen interest to those studying William Thackeray and nineteenth-century literature more broadly.

Twenty-nine collected essays represent a critical history of Shakespeare's play as text and as theater, beginning with Samuel Johnson in 1765, and ending with a review of the Royal Shakespeare Company production in 1991. The criticism centers on three aspects of the play: the love/friendship debate.

First published in 1996, The William Makepeace Thackeray Library is a collection of works written by and about the novelist. This sixth volume contains the work of Lewis Melville, one of the most productive biographers and critics of Thackeray at the turn of the 20th century. Richard Pearson’s helpful introduction not only provides additional information on the biographer himself, but also analyses the text and tracks its development over time. This book will be of interest to those studying Thackeray and nineteenth-century literature.

First published in 1996, The William Makepeace Thackeray Library is a collection of works written by and about the novelist. William Makepeace Thackeray spent part of virtually every year of his writing life in Paris and he wrote continually on France and French culture. This volume contains a selection of Thackeray’s travel writing, the majority of which centres around his time spent in France, with the addition of some writing on his travels to Germany and America. With an explanatory introduction by Richard Pearson, this book reveals some of Thackeray’s lesser-known work which would later inform his novels. This book will be of interest to those studying Thackeray and nineteenth-century travel writing and literature.

Philip Firmin, son of Dr. Brand Firmin and of Lord Ringwood's wealthy niece, has been left a fortune at the death of his mother. He discovers that his father is being blackmailed by Tufton Hunt, a clergyman who once performed a sham marriage ceremony between Brandon and Caroline Gann (as related in A Shabby Genteel Story). Hunt now claims that the marriage was in fact valid, and urges Caroline to assert her rights and disinherit Philip by proving him illegitimate. Caroline, who is now working as a nurse and in this capacity has brought Philip through a serious illness, refuses to do this. Dr Firmin loses Philip's money and his own through unwise speculation and flees to America, and Philip's fiancée Agnes Twysden renounces him in favour of a wealthier rival. Philip now meets General Baynes, one of the trustees of his lost fortune, and falls in love with the General's daughter Charlotte. He marries her, in the teeth of her mother's opposition, and struggles to support her by becoming a journalist. His troubles are ended when the lost will of his great-uncle, Lord Ringwood, is discovered, and he is found to be the heir to the old man's riches.

First published in 1996, The William Makepeace Thackeray Library is a collection of works written by and about the novelist. This fifth volume contains the memoir of Eyre Crowe, who accompanied Thackeray on his tour of America. The account offers an outsider’s glimpse into the professional and public world of William Thackeray whilst on his tour of the United States. It provides the itinerary of the trip, as well as images of the places and people met on the tour, which the reader could not obtain from Thackeray’s letters alone. The introduction by Richard Pearson discusses Crowe and Thackeray’s relationship, Thackeray’s role as a public speaker and his opinion on slavery, a heated issue in both England and America at the time. This book will be of interest to those studying Thackeray and nineteenth-century travel writing and literature.

First published in 1996, The William Makepeace Thackeray Library is a collection of works written by and about the novelist. This fourth volume contains Charles Plumptre Johnson’s The Early Writings of William Makepeace Thackeray and Adolphus Alfred Jack’s Thackeray: A Study. While Johnson’s work signifies a landmark in Thackeray scholarship, recognizing his lesser-known work for magazines and newspapers, A. A. Jack’s text marks a major reassessment of Thackeray’s work in light of the debate on the moral intentionality of fiction. Richard Pearson’s introduction guides the reader through the context of each publication, providing a helpful explanation of how and why these works were written. This book will be of interest to those studying Thackeray and nineteenth-century literature.