The Poems of A. E. Housman (Oxford English Texts) [Hardcover]

A. E. Housman (Author), Archie Burnett (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198123221 | ISBN-13: 978-0198123224 | Publication Date: March 5, 1998

This is the first complete edition of A. E. Housman's poetry, unprecedented in the extent to which it reveals the shaping processes of his poetic thought. The text of the poems published after his death has been corrected from the manuscripts, with all variant readings recorded, and a substantial body of light verse and juvenilia is printed or collected for the first time. The extensive commentary traces the remarkable range of Housman's echoes and allusions--Biblical, Classical, and contemporary--which have never before been explored in such detail, as well as providing information on persons, places, and historical context, the dating of poems, and Housman's linguistic usage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`editing Housman's poetry is one of the tetchiest of challenges in English literary scholarship ... In his new Oxford edition of The Poems of A. E. Housman Archie Burnett looks to have triumphed. Here are 600 pages of minutely detailed scholarship. True evaluation of this edition will take as many years as its compilation, but I believe even Housman would have saluted its erudition.' Jim McCue, The Times

... an impressive work of scholarship, meticulous in its research, clear in its presentation, thoughtful in it arguments and evaluations - and not without touches of dry humour./ ... a wonderful scholarly enterprise./ Like it or not, we are going to have to change our views of some of the poems Housman wrote, as we seem now to have them in a form nearer to what he probably intended;/ Archie Burnett has fulfilled his editor's duty superbly;/ Alan Holden (journal not named)

About the Author

Archie Burnett was born in Scotland in 1950 and studied at the University of Edinburgh before completing his DPhil at the University of Oxford in 1977, with a thesis on Milton's language. He was Junior Research Fellow of St John's College, Oxford 1974-8 then Lecturer and eventually Professor in English at Oxford Brookes University 1979-2000. He is currently Co-director of the Editorial Institute and Professor of English at Boston University.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 5, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198123221
• ISBN-13: 978-0198123224
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,434,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful but Overpriced, March 9, 2001

By 

Roger Lathbury (Alexandria, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Poems of A. E. Housman (Oxford English Texts) (Hardcover)

This is a marvelous book. It has all the poems plus some new ones (new to me, and I thought I knew the work); the clear textual apparatus would have pleased the great textual scholar-poet himself. Moreover, the notes are truly helpful, adding information about botany, the classics, astrology, and other references that give the poetry additional depth and make these seemingly simple verses richer.

...Housman, Graves's biography tells us, wanted his books inexpensive so as to be widely available. Surely plasticated paper over boards in a perfect binding, no matter what the costs of storage and overhead may be, can't justify this steep a sum.