History and the Early English Novel: Matters of Fact from Bacon to Defoe (Cambridge Studies in Eighteenth-Century English Literature and Thought, Series Number 33)

Robert Mayer argues that the modern English novel emerged from historical writing. Historical discourse in the seventeenth century embraced not only "history" in its modern sense, but also fiction, polemic, gossip, and marvels. Mayer shows how the narratives of Daniel Defoe--unlike those of his contemporaries Aphra Behn and Delarivière Manley--were read, in their own time, as history, making connections that later novelists developed. This new study makes an important contribution to the continuing debate about the origins of the novel in Britain. Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 6 Copyright......Page 7 Contents......Page 10 List of illustrations......Page 11 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 1. Baconian historiography: the contours of historical discourse in seventeenth-century England......Page 31 2. “Idle Trash” or “Reliques of Somthing True”?: the fate of Brut and Arthur and the power of tradition......Page 47 3. The History of Myddle: memory, history, and power......Page 67 4. Lifewriting and historiography, fiction and fact: Baxter, Clarendon, and Hutchinson on the English Civil War......Page 88 5. The secret history of the last Stuart kings......Page 107 6. “Knowing strange things”: historical discourse in the century before Robinson Crusoe......Page 126 7. “History” before Defoe: Nashe, Deloney, Behn, Manley......Page 154 8. Defoe's historical practice: from “The Ages Humble Servant” to Major Alexander Ramkins......Page 171 9. “Facts that are form'd to touch the mind”: Defoe's narratives as forms of historical discourse......Page 194 10. From history to the novel: the reception of Defoe......Page 220 Conclusion......Page 240 Index......Page 253 CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE AND THOUGHT......Page 260 This new study of the origins of the English novel argues that the novel emerged from historical writing. Examining historical writers and forms frequently neglected by earlier scholars, Robert Mayer shows that in the seventeenth century historical discourse embraced not only "history" in its modern sense, but also fiction, polemic, gossip, and marvels. Mayer thus explains why Defoe's narratives were initially read as history. It is the acceptance of the claims to historicity, the study argues, that differentiates Defoes fictions from those of writers like Thomas Deloney and Aphra Behn, important writers who nevertheless have figured less prominently than Defoe in discussions of the novel. Mayer ends by exploring the theoretical implications of the history-fiction connection. His study makes an important contribution to the continuing debate about the emergence of what we now call the novel in Britain in the eighteenth century. "This new study of the origins of the English novel argues that the novel emerged from historical writing. Examining historical writers and forms frequently neglected by earlier scholars, Robert Mayer shows that in the seventeenth century historical discourse embraced not only "history" in its modern sense, but also fiction, polemic, gossip, and marvels. Mayer thus explains why Defoe's narratives were initially read as history. It is the acceptance of the claims to historicity, the study argues, that differentiates Defoe's fictions from those of writers like Thomas Deloney and Aphra Behn, important writers who nevertheless have figured less prominently than Defoe in discussions of the novel. Mayer ends by exploring the theoretical implications of the history-fiction connection. His study makes an important contribution to the continuing debate about the emergence of the novel in Britain in the eighteenth century."--Jacket

exploration Of The Meaning Of 'history' And Its Relevance For The Origins Of The Modern English Novel.