Synopses & Reviews
When readers jot down notes in their books, they reveal something of themselvesand#151;what they believe, what amuses or annoys them, what they have read before. But a close examination of marginalia also discloses diverse and fascinating details about the time in which they are written. This book explores reading practices in the Romantic Age through an analysis of some 2,000 books annotated by British readers between 1790 and 1830.
This period experienced a great increase in readership and a boom in publishing. H. J. Jackson shows how readers used their books for work, for socializing, and for leaving messages to posterity. She draws on the annotations of Blake, Coleridge, Keats, and other celebrities as well as those of little known and unknown writers to discover how people were reading and what this can tell us about literature, social history, and the history of the book.
Review
"I am sure that no one knows as much about Romantic marginalia as Jackson; this book will be welcomed by everyone working in the field. It offers a wealth of intriguing material and insight."and#8212;William Keach, Brown University
Review
"I wish I had read this book years ago, when I was setting out to be a scholar of the Romantics. This bookand#8217;s riches are manifold. Like its forerunner,
Marginalia, this
is scholarship of the highest distinction."and#8212;Harold Bloom
Synopsis
This inviting book explores reading practices in the Romantic Age through the lens of the notations that readers jotted in their books. H. J. Jackson analyzes the marginalia of British readers both famous and obscure. She discovers fascinating details about literacy, the availability of books, and how people were reading during the years from 1790 to 1830.
About the Author
H. J. Jackson is a professor, Department of English, University of Toronto. She has published extensively on Romantic literature, and her book Marginalia was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award in literarty criticism.