Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the British Essay
- The Cambridge History of the British Essay
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Preface to a History in the Manner of an Essay
- Part I Forming the British Essay
- Part II The Great Age of the British Essay
- 10 Essayistic Personae and Personhood
- 11 Clubs and Coffeehouses: Sociability and the Essay
- 12 Loose Sallies of the Mind: Distraction and the Essay
- 13 The Essay and the Rise of the Novel
- 14 The Periodical Essay and the Rise of Literary Professionalism
- 15 On Books: The Bibliographical Essay
- 16 Satire and the Essay
- 17 Food and the Essay
- 18 Forms of Thought: Dreams, Reverie, and the Essay
- 19 The Urban Familiar Essay of the Romantic Era
- Part III Assaying Culture, Education, Reform
- Part IV Fractured Selves, Fragmented Worlds
- Part V The Essay and the Essayistic Today
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
15 - On Books: The Bibliographical Essay
from Part II - The Great Age of the British Essay
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 October 2024
- The Cambridge History of the British Essay
- The Cambridge History of the British Essay
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Preface to a History in the Manner of an Essay
- Part I Forming the British Essay
- Part II The Great Age of the British Essay
- 10 Essayistic Personae and Personhood
- 11 Clubs and Coffeehouses: Sociability and the Essay
- 12 Loose Sallies of the Mind: Distraction and the Essay
- 13 The Essay and the Rise of the Novel
- 14 The Periodical Essay and the Rise of Literary Professionalism
- 15 On Books: The Bibliographical Essay
- 16 Satire and the Essay
- 17 Food and the Essay
- 18 Forms of Thought: Dreams, Reverie, and the Essay
- 19 The Urban Familiar Essay of the Romantic Era
- Part III Assaying Culture, Education, Reform
- Part IV Fractured Selves, Fragmented Worlds
- Part V The Essay and the Essayistic Today
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
With an understanding of ‘bibliography’ in its original sense of writing about books, this chapter provides a genealogy of the British bibliographical essay, commencing with the medieval bibliophile Richard de Bury. It traces the development of that species of essay through the eighteenth century, when essays started widely appearing in broadsides, newspapers, and magazines as well as books, motivating essayists to reflect upon the material form in which they were publishing. Following the periodical essayists’ critique of commercial print culture, Romantic essayists like Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, and Thomas De Quincey turned their attention to old books, emphasising their tangible, material value, while at the same time upholding literature’s immaterial qualities. In the age of bibliomania, antiquarian books became an opportunity for the bibliographical essay to come into its own among an expanding audience of bibliophiles and collectors.
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- The Cambridge History of the British Essay , pp. 215 - 230Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024