Sylvia Hunt

Widely considered the first Canadian novel, it has an epistolary form and is remarkable for its observations on the lives and traditions of Quebecers and First Nations, as well as on the manners of the upper British classes. This is a scholarly edition that brings to light new information about the times and the context of the novel. The 286 explanatory notes discuss not only issues long forgotten since the 18th century, but also places, people, and expressions that are familiar today only in some parts of the English-speaking world.

A careful reproduction of the 1816 edition of Jane Austen's novel, with 136 explanatory notes, some of which explain content changes operated by the author on the first edition from 1814. Of all Austen's novels, this is the richest in allusions to the social realities of the British empire. Its characters are anything but one-dimensional, to the point of being controversial. Fanny Price, the heroine, is one of the most unforgettable and worth discussing characters in all English literature.

The novel is famous especially as a parody of Gothic fiction and for its list of "horrid" novels. More importantly, it is a bildungsroman in which an innocent, inexperienced young woman learns the differences between life as described in her favorite literary works and a reality that can be harsh, merciless, but also liberating and enlightening. This edition includes Jane Austen's "Advertisement" and her biography written by her brother, and it is accompanied by 152 explanatory notes.

This short introduction to the teaching of literature courses begins with considerations for developing such a course. It then discusses classes in short fiction, non-fiction, the novel, poetry, drama, film, as well as the fundamentals of academic argument. It also includes three appendices: a self-reflection questionnaire; a syllabus for an academic year; and thematic readings for a syllabus.

The novel is read today in two slightly different versions: the first edition of 1818, written by a very young Mary Shelley; and the edition of 1831, in which irreversible fate is more powerful than human free will. Other minor differences between the two texts originate in yet another version, from 1823. The present edition uses the original 1818 text, more useful for students of British Romanticism. However, corrections from 1823 that the novelist chose to preserve in 1831 have been incorporated, in the hope of doing justice to the young Mary Shelley without entirely disregarding the wishes of the mature author.

Sense and Sensibility is the novel that introduced Jane Austen to the reading world. Austen was a realist; she liked novels that presented realistic characters in realistic situations. She also had a perceptive sense of humor and loved to satirize people and literature. In this novel, Austen satirizes novels of sensibility, but she also satirizes condemnation of sensibility. The human experience requires a combination of reason and emotion.

Pride and Prejudice is a protofeminist critique of contemporary education and marriage that aligns Austen less with sentimental novelists like Fanny Burney and Maria Edgeworth and more with feminist thinkers like Mary Wollstonecraft. Austen’s humour is deceptive; beneath the surface lays a deep dissatisfaction with the type of life the term “gentility” forces on women.

First published in 1749 in London, John Cleland's novel remained banned until 1963 in the US and until 1970 in the UK. Ever since the ban was lifted, it has been the object of academic study and one of the most frequently read novels of the eighteenth century. This volume includes two editions in one: the original text from 1749; and a version in which spelling and punctuation have been improved according to the standards of 18th-century English. Each version is accompanied by 138 explanatory notes.