July & August 2013 Academic & Specialist Literature, Classic & Contemporary

The Age of Authors: An Anthology of Eighteenth-Century Print Culture edited by Paul Keen

This anthology brings together eighteenth-century texts whose main focus was the changing state of literature itself. From dream reveries such as Oliver Goldsmith’s account of a “Fashion Fair” set up on the frozen Thames and the Connoisseur’s description of the hazards of launching forth on “the Ocean of Ink” to mock proposals such as the Microcosm’s plan to establish “a licensed warehouse for wit,” these writers explored their uncertain fate in a changing society.