Author Description
Correspondence is vol. ix in the ten-volume Collected Works of Walter Pater. Among Victorian writers, Pater (1839-1894) challenged academic and religious orthodoxies, defended 'the love of art for own sake', developed a new genre of prose fiction (the 'imaginary portrait'), set new standards for intermedial and cross-disciplinary criticism, and made 'style' the watchword for creativity and life.For the first time, all the known correspondence of Walter Pater has been assembled and fully annotated, including letters exchanged with his main publisher, the Macmillans, for more than two decades. Pertinent letters written after his death by his sisters Clara and Hester Pater are also included. The Correspondence provides a richer, much more complete overview of Pater's academic, professional, and personal lives and demonstrates how vigorously he participated in some of the most important literary and cultural networks of the Victorian era.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This volume investigates the professional and personal life of Walter Pater through the primary source material of his collected correspondence. Robert Seiler, an expert in Victorian literature, compiles and annotates these letters to provide a comprehensive view of Pater's influence on aestheticism and his interactions with the literary establishment. The work serves as a critical framework for understanding how Pater navigated the cultural networks of the late nineteenth century.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- A complete collection of known letters written by Walter Pater.
- Correspondence between Pater and his primary publisher, the Macmillans.
- Posthumous letters written by Clara and Hester Pater.
- Extensive scholarly annotations providing historical and biographical context.
Scope Limits
- The volume is limited to the correspondence of Walter Pater and his immediate circle.
- It does not provide a full-length biographical narrative or critical analysis of his creative works.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars and historians view this collection as a foundational resource for studying the Victorian literary landscape. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the meticulous nature of the annotations provided by Seiler.
Page Count:
528
Publication Date:
2023-03-22
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0192848313
ISBN-13:
9780192848314
Biography
Academic
Literary Criticism
Victorian
Correspondence
English literature
Letters