Recollections of a Literary Life
Or, Books, Places, and People

Delightfully detailed and surprisingly witty, this 1852 publication offers an eclectic mix of fiction, literary analysis and autobiography.

Mary Russell Mitford (Author)

9781108020589, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 23 September 2010

314 pages
21.6 x 1.8 x 14 cm, 0.4 kg

Better known for her five volume portrait of English rural life, Our Village, Mary Russell Mitford (1787–1855) was one of the most prolific female writers of her day. Part critical essay, part autobiography, Recollections consists of a series of sketches on and selections from Mitford's favourite authors, stemming from her desire 'to make others relish a few favourite writers as heartily as I have relished them myself'. The collection is arranged according to Mitford's own eclectic system of categorization including 'fashionable poets', 'cavalier poets', and 'poetry that poets love'. This second volume includes essays on Spanish ballads, Ben Jonson, Leigh Hunt, Shelley, Keats, and several others. Mitford wears her immense literary skill lightly and Recollections is masterfully written, full of lively wit and fascinating biographical detail. Published just three years before Mitford's death, it was based on earlier articles and letters.

1. Spanish ballads
2. Female poets - Miss Blamire, Mrs. James Gray
3. American orators - Daniel Webster
4. Old authors - Ben Jonson
5. Fashionable poets - William Robert Spencer
6. Autobiography of dramatic authors - Colley Cibber, Richard Cumberland
7. Female poets - Mrs. Clive, Mrs. Acton Tindal, Miss Day, Mrs. Robert Dering
8. Cavalier poets - Richard Lovelace, Roger l'Estrange, The Marquis of Montrose
9. Poetry that poets love - Walter Savage Landor, Leigh Hunt, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats
10. Authors associated with places - Christopher Anstey
11. American poets - John Greenleaf Whittier, Fitz-Greene Halleck
12. Voluminous authors - Hargrave's State Trials
13. Fishing songs - Mr. Doubleday, Miss Corbett
14. Authors associated with places - John Kenyon.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]