The Works of Thomas Southerne: Volume II (Oxford English Texts) [Hardcover]

Thomas Southerne (Author), Robert Jordan (Editor), Harold Love (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 1988 | ISBN-10: 0198127987 | ISBN-13: 978-0198127987

Dublin-born Thomas Southerne has long been admired by scholars as one of the most important dramatists of the Restoration, but the lack of a modern edition has prevented his plays from taking their deserved place alongside those of Congreve, Wycherly, and Etherege. This two-volume collection--based on an exhaustive study of the earliest editions--brings together his ten plays and the small surviving body of non-dramatic writing. Volume Two features two of Southerne's best known tragedies, The Fatal Marriage and Oroonoko, based on stories by Aphra Behn, and the variants between the censored and uncensored texts of his political tragedy The Spartan Dame. In addition, the introduction contains the first biography of Southerne based on a comprehensive study of the surviving documentary records, and the editors have incorporated generous notes to clarify the many contemporary allusions and to relate Southerne's work to its sources and models.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`tactfully edited and handsomely produced' David Nokes, Times Literary Supplement

'a very good edition, particularly useful for its biography of Southerne and the excellent explanatory notes ... the text makes for extremely enjoyable reading' Brean S. Hammond, University of Liverpool, Review of English Studies

'two handsome volumes ... Jordan and Love give a renewed perception of how closely Southerne worked with, and wrote for, his actors.' Patrick O'Sullivan, University of Bradford, British Journal of Eighteenth Century Studies

'this edition of Southerne promises to be very fruitful, and should do much to assist more accurate work in an area of literary history still plagued with anachronism and approximation' David Womersley, Jesus College, Oxford, Notes and Queries

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 14, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198127987
• ISBN-13: 978-0198127987
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,527,295 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)