Thomas Chatterton was a poet, forger, and adolescent suicide, and the debate over his work was a pivotal episode in the history of 18th century literature. It ultimately established Chatterton as the inspiration for Romantic poets like Blake, Coleridge, and Keats. This book is a major collection of diverse new essays by scholars, critics, and writers like Peter Ackroyd and Richard Holmes. They show the mercurial Chatterton in exciting new contexts, and restore him as a seminal figure in English Literature.
Booknews
Groom (English, U. of Exeter) is joined by 15 English literature scholars to restore Thomas Chatterton to what they consider his rightful place as a seminal literary figure whose poetry, fiction, history, and forged medieval manuscripts place him at the forefront of the Romantic movement. Articles organized into two sections on his life and works and the Rowley controversy respectively, cover topics such as Chatterton's relation to post- colonialism; King Arthur and Medieval heraldry; and the London book trade, as well as seven essays examining his life and art before and after the Rowley forgeries. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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Nick Groom is Lecturer in English at the University of Exeter.
