Informazioni su questo prodotto

Product Identifiers

PublisherJohns Hopkins University Press

ISBN-100801854792

ISBN-139780801854798

eBay Product ID (ePID)1079312

Product Key Features

Number of Pages256 Pages

Publication NameSamuel Johnson and the Life of Reading

LanguageEnglish

SubjectLiterary, Europe / Great Britain / General, Books & Reading, European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

Publication Year1997

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaLiterary Criticism, Biography & Autobiography, History

AuthorRobert Demaria Jr.

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Weight17.6 Oz

Item Length8.5 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN96-038636

Dewey Edition20

Reviews""Enacts Johnson's celebrated variation on a theme from Horace -- it does not merely delight and instruct, but rather instructs by delighting us.. DeMaria proves himself a reader altogether worthy of his subject."-- Times Literary Supplement, ''Enacts Johnson's celebrated variation on a theme from Horace--it does not merely delight and instruct, but rather instructs 'by' delighting us.... DeMaria proves himself a reader altogether worthy of his subject.''--'Times Literary Supplement' ''This book's strong and original starting point is to study Samuel Johnson through his activity as a reader, not as a writer. By looking at Johnson as a representative and influential reader, DeMaria helps us to understand not only one author but the history of reading itself. No one can read this book without learning a great deal about practices of reading and how they change from one age to the next.''--Lawrence Lipking, Northwestern University

Grade FromCollege Graduate Student

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal828/.609

Table Of ContentPreface Acknowledgments 1. The Life of Reading 2. Notes and Marginalia 3. Study 4. Perusal 5. Mere Reading 6. Curious Reading 7. Samuel Johnson and the Future of Reading Notes Index

SynopsisThe surprising influence of one of the greatest readers in English literature. If readers of the twentieth century feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of writing and information, they can find in Samuel Johnson a sympathetic companion. Johnson's career coincided with the rapid expansion of publishing in England--not only in English, but in Latin and Greek; not only in books, but in reviews, journals, broadsides, pamphlets, and books about books. In 1753 Johnson imagined a time when "writers will, perhaps, be multiplied, till no readers will be found." Three years later, he wrote that England had become "a nation of authors" in which "every man must be content to read his book to himself." In Samuel Johnson and the Life of Reading , Robert DeMaria considers the surprising influence of one of the greatest readers in English literature. Johnson's relationship to books not only reveals much about his life and times, DeMaria contends, but also provides a dramatic counterpoint to modern reading habits. As a superior practitioner of the craft, Johnson provides a compelling model for how to read--indeed, he provides different models for different kinds of reading. DeMaria shows how Johnson recognized early that not all reading was alike--some requiring intense concentration, some suited for cursory glances, some requiring silence, some best appreciated amid the chatter of a coffeehouse. Considering the remarkable range of Johnson's reading, DeMaria discovers in one extraordinary career a synoptic view of the subject of reading., If readers of the twentieth century feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of writing and information, they can find in Samuel Johnson a sympathetic companion. Johnson's career coincided with the rapid expansion of publishing in England--not only in English, but in Latin and Greek; not only in books, but in reviews, journals, broadsides, pamphlets, and books about books. In 1753 Johnson imagined a time when ''writers will, perhaps, be multiplied, till no readers will be found.'' Three years later, he wrote that England had become ''a nation of authors'' in which ''every man must be content to read his book to himself.'' In Samuel Johnson and the Life of Reading, Robert DeMaria considers the surprising influence of one of the greatest readers in English literature. Johnson's relationship to books not only reveals much about his life and times, DeMaria contends, but also provides a dramatic counterpoint to modern reading habits. As a superior practitioner of the craft, Johnson provides a compelling model for how to read--indeed, he provides different models for different kinds of reading. DeMaria shows how Johnson recognized early that not all reading was alike--some requiring intense concentration, some suited for cursory glances, some requiring silence, some best appreciated amid the chatter of a coffeehouse. Considering the remarkable range of Johnson's reading, DeMaria discovers in one extraordinary career a synoptic view of the subject of reading., If readers of the twentieth century feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of writing and information, they can find in Samuel Johnson a sympathetic companion. Johnson's career coincided with the rapid expansion of publishing in England--not only in English, but in Latin and Greek; not only in books, but in reviews, journals, broadsides, pamphlets, ......

LC Classification NumberPR3537.B6D45 1997