The biographical - literary criticism of Edmund Gosse, 1886 - 1905

Abstract

In the following thesis an account is given of the career and publications of Edmund Gosse from 1886, when his reputation received a major setback as a result of the attacks made on his critical methods and academic status following the publication of From Shakespeare to Pope (1886), to 1905 by which date he had regained the position of an important and influential critic and man-of-letters. The account of his career is designed to provide a background to the summaries of individual publications which form the major part of the thesis. The publications which appeared within the period are summarized chronologically and each is given a reference number. This reference number consists of the year of publication followed by a decimal point and a number which indicates the chronological position of the publication in the works summarized for the year. In this way, 1896.2 indicates the second of the publications summarized for the year 1896. The same reference system is used in the bibliographical summary in the third part of the thesis to indicate each work within its year of publication.