The faces of anonymity : anonymous and pseudonymous publications from the sixteenth to the twentieth century

This pathbreaking collection of original essays surveys an important but neglected topic: anonymous publication in England for the Elizabethan age to the present. An impressive group of scholars analyzes a wide range of literary phenomena including: Shakespeare in 17th century commonplace books; the phrase 'By a Lady'; the implied author of an eighteenth century queer fiction; Bentley and the battle of books; essays by Equiano (?); the novel, 1750 - 1830; Frankenstein's unnamed monster; the co-authored pseudonym Michael Field; nineteenth century ghostwriting; and a postmodern hoax on national identity. The editor's introduction places the essays within the context of the historical trajectory of anonymous authorship. Essential reading for anyone interested in authorship and the history of the book. Cover 1 Title 2 Copyright 3 Contents 4 Preface 6 Notes on Contributors 7 Introduction 10 Chapter One Rehearsing the Absent Name: Reading Shakespeare’s Sonnets Through Anonymity 27 Chapter Two Death of an Author: Constructions of Pseudonymity in the Battle of the Books 47 Chapter Three “‘By a Lady’: The Mask of the Feminine in Restoration, Early Eighteenth-Century Print Culture” 71 Chapter Four The Author’s Queer Clothes: Anonymity, Sex(uality), and The Travels and Adventures cif Mademoiselle de Richelieu 88 Chapter Five Possible Gustavus Vassal Olaudah Equiano Attributions 110 Chapter Six The Anonymous Novel in Britain and Ireland, 1750-1830 147 Chapter Seven Nothing’s Namelessness: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein 173 Chapter Eight The Coauthored Pseudonym: Two Women Named Michael Field 199 Chapter Nine From Ghostwriter to Typewriter: Delegating Authority at Fin de Siecle 216 Chapter Ten “A Poet May Not Exist”: Mock-Hoaxes and the Construction of National Identity 237 Index 257 Front Matter....Pages iii-xi Introduction....Pages 1-17 Rehearsing the Absent Name: Reading Shakespeare’s Sonnets Through Anonymity....Pages 19-38 Death of an Author: Constructions of Pseudonymity in the Battle of the Books....Pages 39-62 “ ‘By a Lady’: The Mask of the Feminine in Restoration, Early Eighteenth-Century Print Culture”....Pages 63-79 The Author’s Queer Clothes: Anonymity, Sex(uality), and The Travels and Adventures of Mademoiselle de Richelieu....Pages 81-102 Possible Gustavus Vassa/Olaudah Equiano Attributions....Pages 103-139 The Anonymous Novel in Britain and Ireland, 1750–1830....Pages 141-166 Nothing’s Namelessness: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein....Pages 167-192 The Coauthored Pseudonym: Two Women Named Michael Field....Pages 193-209 From Ghostwriter to Typewriter: Delegating Authority at Fin de Siècle....Pages 211-231 “A Poet May Not Exist”: Mock-Hoaxes and the Construction of National Identity....Pages 233-252 Back Matter....Pages 253-260