George Gissing: The Definitive Bibliography |
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George Gissing: The Definitive Bibliography
Pierre Coustillas Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Lille. This is the first comprehensive primary bibliography of George Gissing’s works to be published, and it is the fruit of over four decades of assiduous research on all possible aspects of his life and career. It is essentially based on a personal collection of his published writings which amounts to nearly 1,400 different editions and impressions of his books in English and fourteen foreign languages ranging from French to Greek, from Romanian to Swedish, from Japanese to Korean. But it also owes much to fruitful contacts with many fellow collectors, librarians and booksellers who kindly shared their knowledge with an inquirer whose intellectual fervour never flagged. Chronologically the bibliography begins in 1874, when the future novelist was a student at Owens College, Manchester and ends with the latest reprints and new publications of hitherto unexploited material. All relevant areas have been investigated—books and pamphlets, contributions to books, short stories, articles and book reviews, miscellaneous writings in newspapers and periodicals. This book claims to be something more than a bibliography. Not only does it contain much information on the circumstances of composition and publication of each item, it also supplies scholars and critics with basic data about the critical reception of all Gissing’s published volumes. It discusses the significance of the manuscripts which have been preserved, recapitulates present-day knowledge of the whereabouts of presentation copies and addresses the various unsolved bibliographical enigmas which have puzzled specialists for years. All English, American, Colonial and Continental editions have received the attention which Gissing’s most exacting admirers may expect from an acknowledged specialist. Perhaps the most astounding though by no means the most significant exploration will be found in Appendix A, about the number of variants of The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft and New Grub Street in the Modern Library—about 150 of them! |
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Hardbound: 17.5 x 27.4cm, 640pp. Colour & b/w illustrations. ISBN 1-904201-02-4 £75.00 / $120.00 To purchase please click here |
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Published 15 February 2005 |
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