The Evolution of English Prose, 1700-1800: Style, Politeness, and Print Culture [Hardcover]

Carey McIntosh (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521624320 | ISBN-13: 978-0521624329 | Publication Date: November 13, 1998 | Edition: First Edition

At the beginning of the eighteenth century ordinary written English was close to speech; by 1800, people expressed themselves more formally, politely, and precisely. The new "writtenness" of prose coincided with the development of a mature print culture, the rise of women writers, the invention of prescriptive grammars, and a powerful new rhetoric. Carey McIntosh traces these changes and illustrates them with comparisons of work by Defoe and Paine, Swift and Burke, Addison and Johnson, Shaftesbury and Godwin, and Astell and Wollstonecraft.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This fascinating book rewards close attention, both in the larger categories of the history of eighteenth-century writing and in many insightful readings of individual passages. The over-all argument...is convincing, the practical demonstrations illuminating, the definitions of terms pertinent and clear. Highly recommended." The East-Central Intelligencer

"Well argued and well written, this fascinating book is recommended for upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, and researchers." Choice

"This is clearly a major, if not the major, work on the subject to date, painstakingly researched, comprehensively argued, and lucidly expressed...[McIntosh] has written was seems to be the definitive treatment of the development of eighteenth-century English prose." Modern Philology

"Carey McIntosh's assertive, intelligent, wide-ranging, and free-wheeling new book should prove important, as well as fascinating, to scholars investigating the language, especially literary language, of eighteenth-century Britain...Any student of the eighteenth century of any sort would find this book both useful and immensely interesting. His theses are possible, plausible, well argued. McIntosh's own style is itself so persuasive that the reader feels him-or herself to be convinced." The Age of Johnson: A Scholarly Annual

Book Description

At the beginning of the eighteenth century ordinary written English was close to speech; by 1800, people expressed themselves more formally, politely, and precisely. The new 'writtenness' of prose coincided with the development of a mature print culture, the rise of women writers, the invention of prescriptive grammars, and a powerful new rhetoric. Carey McIntosh traces these changes and illustrates them with comparison of work by Defoe and Paine, Swift and Burke, Addison and Johnson, Shaftesbury and Godwin, and Astell and Wollstonecracft.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; First Edition edition (November 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521624320
• ISBN-13: 978-0521624329
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,865,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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