When on a tour of Oxford in 1776 Samuel Johnson was discussing biography with Thomas Warton, his companion James Boswell suggested that "Robert Dodsley's life should be written, as he has been so much...
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In the following essay, originally published in 1810, Chalmers provides an early assessment of Dodsley's life and literary output.
An account of Mr. Dodsley was added to the new edition of t...
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In the first essay which follows, Solomon argues that a new biography of Dodsley is warranted, one that does not treat the publisher as a secondary literary figure to the authors he published. In the ...
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In the following essay, Suarez discusses how Dodsley's Collection of Poems was edited, marketed to a specialized readership, and came to be thought of as representative of mid-eighteenth-centur...
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In the following excerpt, Straus analyzes Dodsley's dramatic works written between 1737 and 1749, his work in preserving forgotten dramas in his Collection of Old Plays, and his fables.
Theat...
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In the following essay, Welcher and Dircks discuss the warm critical attention Dodsley received for his Select Fables and the originality and scholarship of “An Essay on Fable.”
When ...
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In the following essay, Tierney argues that Dodsley's literary journal The Museum was a far more important reflection of the age than the Gentleman's Magazine.
Robert Dodsley's...
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In the following essay, Gray describes the rivalry between two London theater companies and how it affected the writing, staging, and critical reception of Dodsley's Cleone.
When Robert Dods...
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In the following essay, Wendorf analyzes Dodsley's editorial work on Collection of Poems, arguing that although Dodsley often changed wording and punctuation in the poems he published, he usual...
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In the following essay, originally published in 1983, Tierney recounts Dodsley's five-year association with the London Society of Arts.
With noticeable pride, Secretary George Box recorded i...
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In the following excerpt, Tierney examines Dodsley's work as dramatist, journalist, editor, publisher, and bookseller.
Life, Writings and Associates
Writing to Thomas Percy in 1761, William ...
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In the following essay, Suarez argues that the first three editions of Dodsley's Collection of Poems were indebted to the patronage, editorial style, literary circle, and poetic ideals of Alexa...
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Robert Dodsley
Critical Essay by Alexander Chalmers
