FROM WRITER TO READER, STUDIES IN EDITORIAL METHOD

Gaskell, Philip

ISBN 10: 1584560010 / ISBN 13: 9781584560012

Published by Oak Knoll Press, New Castle, 1999

About this Item

8vo. paper wrappers. viii, 268 pages. Reprint of the first edition. Very small abrasion to spine, else near fine. Most of the major works of English literature are readily available today only in versions that are sadly inadequate. There are few reliable specialist editions; much worse, the majority of the paperback texts of English and American authors that are sold in their millions to students and general readers are corrupt and misleading. This is as unnecessary as it is undesirable. By combining a critical judgement with an understanding of textual bibliography, an editor can establish a "critical text" that is as authoritative as the evidence allows and present it in the form best suited to the intended audience. The examples given in this book show how this may be done. Dr. Gaskell presents extracts from the early texts of twelve works of literature. He has chosen them not only because of their importance as works of art but also on account of the quantity and variety of the surviving textual evidence; and so, by skillfully following each extract through its surviving stages from writer to reader, he encompasses a variety of subjects and treatments.

Seller Inventory # 55473

Bibliographic Details

• Title: FROM WRITER TO READER, STUDIES IN EDITORIAL METHOD
• Publisher: Oak Knoll Press, New Castle
• Publication Date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1584560010
• ISBN 13: 9781584560012
• Binding: paper wrappers

About this title

Synopsis

Originally published by Oxford U. Press in 1978 (and subsequently reissued in the UK by St. Paul's Bibliographies in 1985). Gaskell (author of A New Introduction to Bibliography ) presents extracts from the early texts of 12 works of literature, chosen because of their importance as works of art and because of the quality of surviving textual evidence. He follows them through the stages from writer to reader, showing editors' work at its best. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)