This comprehensive and authoritative edition of the correspondence of Daniel Defoe situates each letter in its biographical, literary, and historical contexts. A unique source for a turbulent period of British history, Defoe's correspondence spans topics including the first age of party marked by Tory and Whig rivalry, religious tensions between the Church and Dissenters, the uncertainty of the monarchical succession, the birth of Great Britain and its establishment as a global empire, and the use of the press to mould public opinion. As well as an introduction discussing Defoe's epistolary habits and the distinctive features of his letters, headnotes and annotations explain each document's occasion, beginning in 1703 with Defoe hunted by the government for sedition, and ending in 1730 with him again in hiding, fleeing creditors months before his death. The volume is illustrated with examples of Defoe's letters, offering a fresh window onto Defoe's manuscript habits.

Winner, 2023 Literary Encyclopedia Book Prize, The Literary Encyclopedia

‘This authoritative edition gives insights into a range of contemporary events and preoccupations: colonization, religious controversy, communication and transport networks, the publishing trade and relations between authors and printers, the operation of eighteenth-century spymasters and methods of political fact-finding. It will be essential reading for anyone interested in the politics of the period, not least the Union with Scotland and the Hanoverian Succession.’

Margarette Lincoln Source: Times Literary Supplement

‘Nicholas Seager's outstanding and painstaking scholarship has created an edition that deserves to be the standard by which we measure for at least the next 50 years.'

Kit Kincade Source: NPEC Reviews

‘… this edition is a truly splendid literary and literary-critical trove … Hard to imagine it being outdone or superseded. Plainly, as Defoe might say, final words.’

Valentine Cunningham Source: The Glass