The Oxford Chronology of English Literature. [ 2 vols, complete set ]

Oxford University Press, Oxford, first edition, 2002. 2 vols, quarter-imitation leather and cloth, 4to, 28 cm,. xxviii, [1], 816 + [v], 483 pp. Nearly 30,000 entries. Vol 1: The Oxford chronology of English Vol 2: Indexes. "The Chronology offers a carefully selected digest of the printed record of English literature from 1474 to the year 2000, enabling readers to view a substantial sampling of printed publications in time and in relation to other contemporaneous works.. In basic terms, the Chronology is an extensive checklist of what the editor and his team of advisers consider to be significant and representative works arranged by year of imprint (or of actual publication where this differs). Its greater value, it is to be hoped, lies not just in the number and range of works selected for inclusion, but in the core bibliographical and contextual information, culled from a wide range of sources, contained in the notes to many individual titles. The main text concerns itself with English literature, understood as works originally written in English by British authors published in Britain, though some exceptions have been made .. While works of the imagination (verse, drama, novels, short stories) predominate, a wide range of other works (biographies, letters, critical works, philosophical and religious texts, works of historical and literary scholarship, reference works) have also been included...Within the physical limits we have set ourselves, the selection policy has been generously inclusive. Works of indisputable and lasting greatness will be found with others whose ephemerality serves to exemplify contemporary taste; works of high intellectual purpose rub shoulders with the frankly trivial, or with productions that have contributed to the development of a popular genre, such as the detective story. We have included provincial, as well as metropolitan, writers, together with works that reflect popular rather than elite concerns. High-brow, low-brow, and middle-brow tastes are all, we hope, well represented in a view of English literary culture that is both wide and deep. And finally, ...the Chronology has sought to accommodate the many and various contributions of women writers to British literary life, especially in the earlier periods - not in a spirit of political correctness but in the interests of historical accuracy and, hence, as an act of natural justice." - from the blurb. The final listing comprises "nearly 30,000 works - over 11,000 works of fiction, nearly 6,000 poetry titles, 2,500 dramatic works, and over 6,500 works of non-fiction. Top edges slightly duststaned, publisher's stickers on rear boards, otherwise a Very Good set.