Making The Modern Reader

Inquiring Into The Formation Of ALiterary Canon During The Restoration And The Eighteenth Century, Barbara Benedict Poses The Question, 'do Anthologies Reflect Or Shape Contemporary Literary Taste?' She Finds That There Was ACultural Dialectic At Work: Miscellanies And Anthologies Transmitted Particular Tastes While In Turn Being Influenced By The Larger Culture They Helped To CreateBenedict Reveals How Anthologies Of The Time Often Created AConsensus Of Literary And Aesthetic Values By Providing ABridge Between The Tastes Of Authors, Editors, Printers, Booksellers, And Readers.making The Modern Reader, The First Full Treatment Of The Early Modern Anthology, Is In Part AHistory Of The London Printing Trade As Well As Of The Professionalization Of CriticismBenedict Thoroughly Documents The Historical Redefinition Of The Reader: Once AMember Of ACommunal Literary Culture, The Reader Became Private And Introspective, Morally And Culturally Shaped By Choices In ReadingShe Argues That Eighteenthcentury Collections Promised The Reader That Culture Could Be Acquired Through The Absorption Of Literary ValuesThis Process Of Cultural Education Appealed To AMiddle Class Seeking To Become Discriminating Consumers Of Art.by Addressing This Neglected Genre, Benedict Contributes ANew Perspective On The Tension Between Popular And High Culture, Between The Common Reader And The EliteThis Book Will Interest Scholars Working In Cultural Studies And Those Studying Noncanonical Texts As Well As Eighteenthcentury Literature In General.originally Published In .the Princeton Legacy Library Uses The Latest Printondemand Technology To Again Make Available Previously Outofprint Books From The Distinguished Backlist Of Princeton University PressThese Editions Preserve The Original Texts Of These Important Books While Presenting Them In Durable Paperback And Hardcover EditionsThe Goal Of The Princeton Legacy Library Is To Vastly Increase Access To The Rich Scholarly Heritage Found In The Thousands Of Books Published By Princeton University Press Since Its Founding In .
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