The Oxford English Literary History

Margaret Ezell is a Distinguished Professor of English and the John and Sara Lindsey Chair of Liberal Arts at Texas A&M University. She received her degrees from Wellesley College and Cambridge University.

• List of Figures Abbreviations A Note on the Texts A Preface to the Reader: Describing 'Literary Life' in the Mid- and Late Seventeenth Century 1. Ending the War, Creating a Commonwealth, and Surviving the Interregnum, 1645-1658 I: 1645 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Speech, and Performance, 1645-1658 III: Humphrey Moseley and London Literary Publishing: Making the Book, Image, and Word IV: Hearing, Speaking, Writing: Religious Discourse from the Pulpit, among Congregations, and from the Prophets V: Fiction and Adventure Narratives: Romantic Foreigners and Native Romances VI: Sociable Texts: Manuscript Circulation, Writers, and Readers in Britain and Abroad 2. The Return of the King, Restoration, and Innovation, 1659-1673 I: 1659-1660 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Speech, and Performance, 1660-1673 III: Renovating the Stage: Companies, Actresses, Repertoir, Theatre Innovations, and the Touring Companies IV: Enacting Libertinism: Court Performance and Literary Culture V: Creating Science: The Royal Society and the New Literatures of Science VI: 'Adventurous Song': Samuel Butler, Abraham Cowley, Katherine Philips, John Milton, and 1660s Verse 3. Reading and Writing for Profit and Delight, 1674 - 1684 I: 1674-1675 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Speech, and Performance, 1674-1684 III: Poets and the Politics of Patronage and Literary Criticism IV: Theatrical Entertainments Outside the London Commercial Playhouses: Smock Alley, Strollers, School Plays, and Private Performances V: Fictions: The Pilgrim's Progress, the New 'Novels', and Love and Erotica VI: Foreign Parts: English Readers and Foreign Lands and Culture 4. The End of the Century, Scripting Transitions, 1685-1699 I: 1685-1686 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Speech, and Performance, 1685-1699 III: Heard in the Street: Broadside Ballads IV: Seen on Stage: English Operas, the Female Wits, and the 'Reformed' Stage V: Debates between the Sexes: Satires, Advice, and Polemics 5. Writing the New Britain, 1700-1714 I: 1700 II: Laws Regulating Publication, Preaching, and Performance, 1700-1714 III: Kit-Cats and Scriblerians: Clubs, Wits, the Tatler, the Spectator, and The Memoirs of Martin Scriblerus IV: Booksellers and the Book Trade: John Dunton, Edmund Curll, Grub Street, and the Rise of Bernard Lintot V: 'The Great Business of Poetry': Poets, Pastoral, and Politics Appendix: Companion Volume: Table of Contents Bibliography Index

The stated purpose of this interesting and useful book is to provide cultural contexts for the literature of the period. It often quotes obscure texts or explains important, familiar texts in unusual, illuminating ways...Ms. Ezell's breadth and depth of learning is often breathtaking.