This 1989 volume was created to mark the three-hundredth anniversary of Samuel Richardson's birth, with fifteen essays, some illustrated, by contributors who investigate various aspects of the novelist's work. The essays offer fresh readings of individual novels and of Richardson's whole oeuvre. Subjects range from an examination of reactions to Pamela to observations on patterns of male friendship in the novels. Richardson's personal epistolary production is studied by several of the contributors, one of whom makes a strong appeal for the publication of Richardson's complete correspondence. A strikingly original essay explores the novelist's temporal and geographical world, in relation to the real London of the time. This important collection, festive in spirit but sharp, scholarly and brilliantly multi-faceted, is a landmark in Richardson studies.
