04996nam 2200865 a 450 991078188350332120200520144314.01-283-21150-597866132115070-8122-0143-410.9783/9780812201437(CKB)2550000000051292(OCoLC)759158232(CaPaEBR)ebrary10491983(SSID)ssj0000542933(PQKBManifestationID)11367153(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000542933(PQKBWorkID)10511805(PQKB)11571391(MdBmJHUP)muse8307(DE-B1597)448996(OCoLC)979968246(DE-B1597)9780812201437(Au-PeEL)EBL3441526(CaPaEBR)ebr10491983(CaONFJC)MIL321150(MiAaPQ)EBC3441526(EXLCZ)99255000000005129220041202d2005 uy 0engurcn|||||||||txtccrThe afterlife of character, 1726-1825[electronic resource] /David A. BrewerPhiladelphia [Pa.] University of Pennsylvania Pressc20051 online resource (273 p.) Material textsBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph0-8122-3864-8 Includes bibliographical references (p. [235]-251) and index. Frontmatter -- Contents -- Cottagers upon the Textual Commons, an Introduction -- Chapter 1. The Invention of the Fictional Archive -- Chapter 2. Visualization, Theatricality, Fame -- Chapter 3. Character Migration, Detachability, Old Friends -- Chapter 4. Lewd Engraftments and the Richardsonian Coterie Public -- Chapter 5. Shandyism and the Club of True Feelers -- Scott's Parental Interest, an Afterword -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- AcknowledgmentsThe Afterlife of Character, 1726-1825 reconstructs how eighteenth-century British readers invented further adventures for beloved characters, including Gulliver, Falstaff, Pamela, and Tristram Shandy. Far from being close-ended and self-contained, the novels and plays in which these characters first appeared were treated by many as merely a starting point, a collective reference perpetually inviting augmentation through an astonishing wealth of unauthorized sequels. Characters became an inexhaustible form of common property, despite their patent authorship. Readers endowed them with value, knowing all the while that others were doing the same and so were collectively forging a new mode of virtual community.By tracing these practices, David A. Brewer shows how the literary canon emerged as much "from below" as out of any of the institutions that have been credited with their invention. Indeed, he reveals the astonishing degree to which authors had to cajole readers into granting them authority over their own creations, authority that seems self-evident to a modern audience.In its innovative methodology and its unprecedented attention to the productive interplay between the audience, the book as a material artifact, and the text as an immaterial entity, The Afterlife of Character, 1726-1825 offers a compelling new approach to eighteenth-century studies, the history of the book, and the very idea of character itself.Material texts.English literature18th centuryHistory and criticismCharacters and characteristics in literatureIntellectual propertyGreat BritainHistory18th centuryIntellectual propertyGreat BritainHistory19th centuryAuthors and readersGreat BritainHistory18th centuryAuthors and readersGreat BritainHistory19th centuryEnglish literature19th centuryHistory and criticismInfluence (Literary, artistic, etc.)History19th centuryInfluence (Literary, artistic, etc.)History18th centurySequels (Literature)Cultural Studies.Literature.English literatureHistory and criticism.Characters and characteristics in literature.Intellectual propertyHistoryIntellectual propertyHistoryAuthors and readersHistoryAuthors and readersHistoryEnglish literatureHistory and criticism.Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)HistoryInfluence (Literary, artistic, etc.)HistorySequels (Literature)820.9/27/09033Brewer David A(David Allen),1969-1575536MiAaPQMiAaPQMiAaPQBOOK9910781883503321The afterlife of character, 1726-18253852571UNINA