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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts POETRY, DRAMA, AND FICTION IN THE LONDON MARKETPLACE, 1737-1749 A Dissertation in English by Patricia Gael © 2014 Patricia Gael Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2014 The dissertation of Patricia Gael was reviewed and approved* by the following: Robert D. Hume Evan Pugh Professor of English Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee John T. Harwood Associate Professor of English Associate Professor of Information Sciences and Technology Philip Jenkins Emeritus Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of the Humanities Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies Laura Lunger Knoppers Liberal Arts Research Professor of English Garrett Sullivan Professor of English Director of Graduate Studies *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School. ii Abstract This project addresses major gaps in our understanding of the mid-eighteenth century book trade and the imaginative literature it produced. The current scholarly view of literature in the mid-eighteenth century argues that the period saw the disappearance of topical poetry, a dearth of interest in drama, and a rise in the popularity of the novel. But we know very little about booksellers’ decisions to invest in literature; less about literary reception, as professional reviewing was in its infancy; and less still about the lives of the period’s mostly anonymous authors. My project challenges standard arguments about mid-eighteenth century imaginative literature by providing a thorough analysis of the London literary trade during the period. I examine more than 2,000 of the works of poetry, drama, and fiction published in the city between the passage of the Theatre Licensing Act in 1737 and the publication of the Monthly Review and Tom Jones in 1749. I arrive at a much more accurate picture of literary development and the publishing world. My research shows that booksellers employed sophisticated strategies to mitigate the financial risks of publishing literary genres; authors often published anonymously and were rarely associated with more than a few works; poetry continued to dominate the market; drama remained a publication mainstay; and no discernible rise in the amount or quality of fiction occurred. iii Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................. VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................ VIII PREFACE .................................................................................................................................................. IX ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................... XV CHAPTER 1 RECONSTRUCTING THE ROLE OF POETRY, DRAMA, AND FICTION IN LONDON, 1737–1749 ................................................................................................................................. 1 I. THE PLACE OF POETRY, DRAMA, AND FICTION IN THE PUBLISHING MARKETPLACE ........................... 3 II. BOOK HISTORIANS’ DEPICTIONS OF THE 1740S BOOK TRADE .......................................................... 21 The Publishing Business ..................................................................................................................... 21 Authorship .......................................................................................................................................... 23 The Dissemination of Literature ......................................................................................................... 25 Critical Assumptions .......................................................................................................................... 28 III. MODERN CRITICAL ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT 1740S BRITISH LITERATURE ......................................... 29 The Anthologized 1740s ..................................................................................................................... 30 Critical Characterizations of the Literature ....................................................................................... 33 Critical Assumptions .......................................................................................................................... 41 IV. ANALYZING 1740S LONDON PUBLISHED LITERATURE WITH ESTC AND ECCO ............................. 42 CHAPTER 2 BOOKSELLING PRACTICES ....................................................................................... 52 I. IDENTIFYING AND LOCATING 1740S BOOKSELLERS ........................................................................... 53 II. MAKING MONEY AS A BOOKSELLER .................................................................................................. 76 III. EXAMPLES OF THE PLACE OF POETRY, DRAMA, AND FICTION IN BOOKSELLERS’ BUSINESSES ...... 88 Cooperative Trade Publishers and Poetry Specialists: Robert Dodsley and Mary Cooper .............. 90 Dominating the Drama Market: John Watts ...................................................................................... 96 Fiction in a Diverse Book List: James Hodges ................................................................................ 101 A Range of Business Models ............................................................................................................. 104 CHAPTER 3 THE AUTHORS OF POETRY, DRAMA, AND FICTION ........................................ 110 I. ATTRIBUTION AND ANONYMITY ....................................................................................................... 111 II. AUTHORIAL CAREERS ...................................................................................................................... 131 III. REPRINTS ......................................................................................................................................... 148 CHAPTER 4 THE DISSEMINATION AND RECEPTION OF POETRY ...................................... 171 I. PRACTICAL INFLUENCES: POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS FOR PURCHASING POETRY .................. 174 II. CURRENT EVENTS: TOPICALITY IN PUBLISHED POETRY ................................................................. 185 III. AESTHETIC INSPIRATION: THE AUTHORS AND STYLES MOST INVOKED AND IMPLEMENTED ....... 199 CHAPTER 5 THE DISSEMINATION AND RECEPTION OF DRAMA AND FICTION ............ 224 I. 1740S DRAMA .................................................................................................................................... 225 Practical Influences: Possibilities and Limitations for Purchasing Drama .................................... 227 iv 1740s Published Drama and its Reception from Critics and Readers ............................................. 231 II. 1740S FICTION .................................................................................................................................. 254 Practical Influences: Possibilities and Limitations for Purchasing Fiction .................................... 255 1740s Published Fiction and its Reception from Critics and Readers ............................................. 260 CONCLUSION THE MARKET FOR LITERATURE, 1737-1749 ................................................... 276 WORKS CITED ...................................................................................................................................... 285 PRIMARY WORKS .................................................................................................................................. 285 Poetry ............................................................................................................................................... 285 Drama ............................................................................................................................................... 296 Fiction ............................................................................................................................................... 302 Other Prose Works ........................................................................................................................... 310 SECONDARY WORKS ............................................................................................................................. 314 v List of Figures Figure 1.1 Number of Titles Published in London Per Year, 1737–1749 .................................................... 9 Figure 1.2 Percentage of Works Published in London By Genre, 1737–1749 ........................................... 10 Figure 1.3 Percentage of Works Published in London By Genre, 1737–1740 ........................................... 13 Figure 1.4 Percentage of Works Published in London By Genre, 1741–45 ............................................... 14 Figure 1.5 Percentage of Works Published in London By Genre, 1746–49 ............................................... 15 Figure 1.6 Annual Percentage of Literature by Genre ................................................................................ 17 Figure 1.7 Annual Number of Literature Titles by Genre ........................................................................... 17 Figure 1.8 Percentage of ESTC Poetry by Format, 1737–49 ...................................................................... 19 Figure 1.9 Percentage of ESTC Drama by Format, 1737–49