Two centuries after his birth in October 1795, John Keats occupies a secure place in the canon of great literature of the western world. But for much of the nineteenth century and even during periods of the twentieth century, his right to such a position was not so firmly established. On the bicentenary of Keats's birth, various Italian scholars, along with specialists from English-speaking countries, decided to take advantage of the occasion not only to render homage to a poet whose greatness now seems unchallenged but also to accept his continuing challenge to his readers. The contributors...

In this first systematic assessment of Ruffini's literary achievement, the seven novels that are apparently so different from each other emerge as an aesthetically coherent and individualized contribution to the mid-Victorian fictional canon. Composed in English by an Italian exile resident in Paris, they describe interactions among men and women of many nationalities and trace interesting European journeys and pilgrimages during the early days of mass tourism. While thus documenting such phenomena as expanding rail networks, holiday resorts and health spas, the novels dramatize, more...