British Literature 1640 - 1789: An Anthology, 3rd Edition

“ … contains a wide range of expected work (or samples of it, like three books from Paradise Lost, Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”, Blake’s “The Tyger” and Burns’s “To a Mouse”) but also a representative selection of literature from women writers (the problematic of regarding literature by gender is itself of interest) and enough of a general context to give a coherent impression over a period often compartmentalized differently (say, into centuries).

The editor provides a helpful introduction with historical and cultural background. There is a select bibliography at the end, along with an index of titles and first lines. The editorial stance has been to modernize where necessary but not arbitrarily. Text and notes are well displayed on the page. A thematic index (gender, aesthetics, race/slavery, pastoral etc) is a useful feature. You get a lot for your money … The paperback is sturdily-bound and should survive regular consultation. Looking across the period from the Civil War to Romanticism opens up perspectives unknown to silo-thinking by period, and it is a rich and varied period with more than a few things to delight and surprise.”
Stuart Hannabuss, Gray's School of Art, Aberdeen