The Longman Anthology of British Literature, Volume 2a: The Romantics and Their Contemporaries

The Longman Anthology of British Literature - 2A / 0-321-10579-6 Anthologies are usually either purchased because they are required reading for school or because the purchaser would like to round out a private library with worthwhile literary selections. This review is written predominantly to help the latter in their purchasing decision. This anthology belongs to the three-volume set of The Longman Anthology of British Literature (Volumes 2A, 2B, 2C). Each volume contains gorgeous color plates of contemporary artwork and portraits. The authors are arranged not only by the dates they represent, but also by the causes that they provide perspective on. This arrangement makes the literary selections more meaningful when read as a group, and provides a great deal of insight on pertinent issues which influenced the authors' writings. This arrangement does mean, however, that many selections are scattered throughout the work, so if you wish to read all the selections by, say, Hannah More, you will have to wade through the index to find the three or four places her writings are located. All in all, the organization is a good one, unless you specifically prefer having all the writings of an author located in the same place, in which case another anthology might be best - perhaps the Norton anthologies. The authors represented in this volume are: - Austen, Jane - Baillie, Joanna - Barbauld, Ann Letitia - Bellamy, Thomas - Blake, William - Burke, Edmund - Burns, Robert - Clare, John - Clarkson, Thomas - Cobbett, William - Coleridge, Samuel Taylor - Cowper, William - de Quincey, Thomas - Equiano, Olaudah - Gilpin, William - Godwin, William - Gordon, George (Lord Byron) - Hazlitt, William - Hemans, Felicia - Kant, Immanuel - Keats, John - Lamb, Charles - Lamb, Mary - Macaulay, Catherine - Moore, Thomas - More, Hannah - Newton, John - Paine, Thomas - Polwhele, Richard - Prince, Mary - Radcliffe, Mary Anne - Robinson, Mary - Ruskin, John - Scott, Sir Walter - Shelley, Percy Bysshe - Smith, Charlotte - Smith, Eaglesfied - Southey, Robert - Spence, Sir Patrick - Thompson, William - Wakefield, Priscilla Bell - Wheeler, Anna - Williams, Helen Maria - Wollstonecraft, Mary - Wordsworth, Dorothy - Wordsworth, William - Yearsley, Ann Cromartie - Young, Arthur ~ Ana Mardoll

I got this book for an English Romanticism class, and apart from assigned readings by the teacher, the book also has biographies of the poets and writers -- really interesting read!

I'm using the Longman Anthology of the Romantics and their Contemporaries (3d edition) for the first time in my 3d-year Romantics course (enrolment 88 and counting!) -- I would like to thank the editors for doing a fantastic job -- the introductory essay (pp. 3-29) is truly unparallelled for clarity, scope, and intelligence -- absolutely filled to the brim with great, challenging ideas. The headnotes provide a meaningful, detailed historical background. Excellent, well annotated selections -- the notes are great too -- not condescending, not entirely ruled by the editors' obsessions, finely articulated. What a sane, sensible, well balanced, erudite anthology! Congratulations and thank you !

This is a gorgeous anthology, with dazzling color plates (Martin, Gainsborough, Wright, Turnery, Blake, etc.) that are wonderful to look at and even better to teach with. The selections are all you could want for a survey of the romantics, and the organization of the materials--especially the cultural/contextual sections--is extremely helpful both for students of romantic literature and for the teacher designing a course. The notes are consistently illuminating without being obtrusive. This is an edition to trust. I'll never go Norton again!

For the purpose of teaching British Lit to undergraduates, this is the best anthology. In addition to the wonderful array of texts, there are full-color plates and black and white drawings and significant discussions of cultural movements and conditions. This anthology has helped to bring non-canonical texts to the fore, especially with respect to abolition and slavery. Prior to the publication of the first edition of this anthology, British abolitionist texts were not widely included in anthologies.I love this anthology and am firmly committed to it. This is a book students will hold on to and it's a great book from which to teach.