Gibbon and the 'Watchmen of the Holy City': The Historian and his Reputation, 1776-1815 [Hardcover]

David Womersley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 21, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0198187335 | ISBN-13: 978-0198187332

The subject of this book is the story of the conflict between Gibbon and those he mockingly dubbed the "Watchmen of the Holy City," and it explores the ramifications of an elusive aspect of authorship. By considering the sequence of interactions between the historian and his readership, Womersley makes possible a more intimate understanding of what might be called Gibbon's experience of himself. At the same time he deepens our knowledge of the conditions of English authorship during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Womersley has produced a signally effective study of the various processes which create an authorial reputation, assiduously demonstrating how careful documentary reconstruction can restore the rich textuality of a writer's life.... This is a major contribution not only to Gibbon scholarship but also to methodology."--Review of English Studies

"Embodies very high standards of scholarship and critical acumen.... [Womersley] has traced a story not likely to be seriously improved upon for many decades to come. --Studies in English Literature 1500-1900

"Erudite and absorbing.... David Womersley has written an important book; it greatly increases our sense of the ways in which Gibbon's self-fashioning went on within the pages of his major works.... Womersley has taken us where none have ventured before, in showing Gibbon as a Bowdler-like censor of his own ongoing productions."--Times Literary Supplement

"To appreciate Gibbon the historian, read the magisterial Decline and Fall; to know Gibbon the man behind the history, read the Memoirs and the Letters; to understand Gibbon the author, and the growth of his literary reputation, read this book by Womersley."--Virginia Quarterly Review

"This brilliant and careful work...contains much of permanent value for any student of Gibbon."--Choice

"Womersley's analyses are subtle, original, and valuable.... In addition to its value for those interested in Gibbon's work, this book is a significant contribution to the discussion of eighteenth-century controversial writing, belonging on the shelf with Joseph Levine's The Battle of the Books.--Albion

About the Author

David Womersley is an Official Fellow and Tutor in English Literature, Jesus College, Oxford.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198187335
• ISBN-13: 978-0198187332
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,300,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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