J. A. Downie is Professor of English at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Pro-Warden (Academic). The author of five monographs, he has also edited three collections of essays, as well as editions of Defoe's political and social writings for Pickering & Chatto's The Complete Works of Daniel Defoe. For many years he was the editor of the section of The Scriblerian devoted to Defoe and the Early Novelists. His most recent book is A Political Biography of Henry Fielding.

As a vehicle for "critical and contextual commentary," the Handbook succeeds and occasionally even delights. Its two parts, divided chronologically pre- and post-1770, offer social, material, and literary context forsubsequent discussions of particular authors and genres.

• PART I: 1660-1770: FROM 'NOVELS' TO WHAT IS NOT YET 'THE NOVEL'; THE ECONOMICS OF CULTURE 1660-1770; INFLUENCES ON THE EARLY ENGLISH NOVEL; EARLY 'NOVELS' AND NOVELISTS; PART II: 1770-1832: THE MAKING OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL; LITERARY PRODUCTION 1770-1832; AUTHORS, READERS, REVIEWERS, AND CRITICS, 1770-1832; NOVELS AND NOVELISTS, 1770-1832

J. A. Downie is Professor of English at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Pro-Warden (Academic). The author of five monographs, he has also edited three collections of essays, as well as editions of Defoe's political and social writings for Pickering & Chatto's The Complete Works of Daniel Defoe. For many years he was the editor of the section of The Scriblerian devoted to Defoe and the Early Novelists. His most recent book is A Political Biography of Henry Fielding.

As a vehicle for "critical and contextual commentary," the Handbook succeeds and occasionally even delights. Its two parts, divided chronologically pre- and post-1770, offer social, material, and literary context forsubsequent discussions of particular authors and genres.

• PART I: 1660-1770: FROM 'NOVELS' TO WHAT IS NOT YET 'THE NOVEL'; THE ECONOMICS OF CULTURE 1660-1770; INFLUENCES ON THE EARLY ENGLISH NOVEL; EARLY 'NOVELS' AND NOVELISTS; PART II: 1770-1832: THE MAKING OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL; LITERARY PRODUCTION 1770-1832; AUTHORS, READERS, REVIEWERS, AND CRITICS, 1770-1832; NOVELS AND NOVELISTS, 1770-1832

J. A. Downie is Professor of English at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Pro-Warden (Academic). The author of five monographs, he has also edited three collections of essays, as well as editions of Defoe's political and social writings for Pickering & Chatto's The Complete Works of Daniel Defoe. For many years he was the editor of the section of The Scriblerian devoted to Defoe and the Early Novelists. His most recent book is A Political Biography of Henry Fielding.

As a vehicle for "critical and contextual commentary," the Handbook succeeds and occasionally even delights. Its two parts, divided chronologically pre- and post-1770, offer social, material, and literary context forsubsequent discussions of particular authors and genres.

• PART I: 1660-1770: FROM 'NOVELS' TO WHAT IS NOT YET 'THE NOVEL'; THE ECONOMICS OF CULTURE 1660-1770; INFLUENCES ON THE EARLY ENGLISH NOVEL; EARLY 'NOVELS' AND NOVELISTS; PART II: 1770-1832: THE MAKING OF THE ENGLISH NOVEL; LITERARY PRODUCTION 1770-1832; AUTHORS, READERS, REVIEWERS, AND CRITICS, 1770-1832; NOVELS AND NOVELISTS, 1770-1832