(P/B) THE PRELUDE 1799, 1805, 1850

Παρουσίαση

This volume is the first to present Wordsworth's great poem in all three of its forms. It reprints, on facing pages, the version of The Prelude that was completed in 1805, together with the much-revised work published after the poets death in 1850. In addition, the editors include the two-part version of the poem, composed in 1798-99. Each of these poems possesses distinctive qualities and values; to read them together provides an incomparable chance to observe a great poet composing and re-composing, throughout a long life, his major work.
There are no fewer than seventeen manuscripts of The Prelude in the Wordsworth library at Grasmere. Working with these materials, the editors have prepared an accurate reading version of 1799 and have newly edited from manuscripts the texts of 1805 and 1850-thus freeing the latter poem from the unwarranted alterations made by Wordsworth's literary executors. The editors also provide a text of MS. JJ (Wordsworth's earliest drafts for parts of The Prelude) as well as transcriptions of other important passages in manuscript which Wordsworth failed to include in any fair copy of his poem. The texts are fully annotated, and the notes for all three versions of The Prelude are arranged so that each version may be read independently. The editors provide a concise history of the texts and describe the principles by which each has been transcribed from the manuscripts.
There are many other aids for a thorough study of The Prelude and its background. A chronological table enables the reader to contextualize the biographical and historical allusions in the texts and footnotes.
"References to The Prelude in Process" presents the relevant allusions to the poem, by Wordsworth and by members of his circle, from 1799 to 1850. Another section, "Early Reception," reprints significant comments on the published version of 1850 by readers and reviewers.
Finally, there are seven critical essays by Jonathan Wordsworth, M. H. Abrams, Geoffrey H. Hartman, Richard J. Onorato, William Empson, Herbert Lindenberger, and W. B. Gallie. (From the publisher)

Περιεχόμενα

Preface
Events of Wordsworth's Life
Abbreviations
The Prelude
The Two-Part Prelude of 1799
The Prelude of 1805 in Thirteen Books
The Prelude of 1850 in Fourteen Books
MS. Drafts and Fragments, 1798-1804
1. The Beginnings of The Prelude: 1799 Drafts and Related Materials in MS. JJ, October 1798
2. Fragments from Peter Bell. MS. 2, ca. February 1799
3. Draft Material from the Five-Book Prelude in MS. W, February 1804
4. Rejected Drafts for 1805, Book VIII, in MS. Y, October 1804
Manuscripts of The Prelude, 1798-1850
The Texts: History and Presentation
General Editorial Procedures
Composition and Texts: The Two-Part Prelude of 1799
Composition and Texts: The Prelude of 1805 and 1850
Context and Reception
References to The Prelude in Process: 1799-1850
The Early Reception
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, To William Wordsworth
Thomas De Quincey, William Wordsworth
From the Eclectic Review
From Tait's Edinburgh Magazine
From the Gentleman's Magazine
From Graham's Magazine
From the British Quarterly Review
From the Dublin University Magazine
From the Examiner
Henry Crabb Robinson
Frederick Denison Maurice
Thomas Babington Macaulay
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Matthew Arnold
A. C. Bradley
Recent Critical Essays
Jonathan Wordsworth, The Two-Part Prelude of 1799
M. H. Abrams, The Design of The Prelude: Wordsworth's Long Journey Home
Geoffrey H. Hartman, A Poet's Progress: Wordsworth and the Via Naturaliter Negativa
Richard J. Onorato, The Prelude: Metaphors of Beginning and Where They Lead
William Empson, Sense in The Prelude
Herbert Lindenberger, Images of Interaction in The Prelude
W. B. Callie, Is The Prelude a Philosophical Poem?
Bibliography of Works Cited and Consulted
Selected Reading