In this time of proliferating scholarship, one of the most welcome publications is this] intelligently selected and annotated bibliography of secondary material. . . . Understanding the value of selectivity, Spector has limited his entries to books and significant articles. Perhaps because of his avowed interest in redefining the period, he has been careful to include articles on historiography and critical method which apply to the eighteenth century. He has not, however, slighted the older works of twentieth-century scholarship. . . . A valuable resource not only to students of...

Although Smollett's obvious masculine sensibility has become a commonplace in criticism of the 18th-century novel, the basis and particularities of that sensibility have never been examined. In actuality, his treatment of women--heroines, victims, and comic or grotesque--proves far more complex than conventional commentary suggests. This study attempts to show that in each category Smollett's treatment depends on the fictional purposes that these characters serve in his novels.

When Samuel Johnson is discussed as an essayist, his and "Idler" are generally the works that are considered. This is the first study to take account of the effect of Johnson's essayistic talents on the entirety of his writing. Setting forth the particular characteristics of the genre that are present in Johnson's contributions to the political controversies of his time, this analysis examines those qualities of Johnson's thought and methods that naturally led to his dependence on the essay form in polemical engagements throughout his career. In detail, Spector's study then goes on to...