The Edinburgh Companion to James Hogg: (Edinburgh Companions to Scottish Literature)

James Hogg (1770-1835) is increasingly recognised as a major Scottish author and one of the most original figures in European Romanticism. 16 essays written by international experts on Hogg draw on recent breakthroughs in research to illuminate the contexts and debates that helped to shape his writings. The book provides an indispensable guide to Hogg's life and worlds, his publishing history, reception and reputation, his treatments of politics, religion, nationality, social class, sexuality and gender, and the diverse literary forms - ballads, songs, poems, drama, short stories, novels, periodicals - in which he wrote. Key Features:* Thorough coverage of the whole of Hogg's works, career and contexts, as well as detailed considerations of his most famous work, Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner* The contributors are all major figures in Hogg studies and include editors of the definitive Stirling South Carolina Research Edition of the Collected Works of James Hogg, including Caroline McCracken-Flesher (Wyoming), Hans de Groot (Toronto), Penny Fielding(Edinburgh), Peter Garside (Edinburgh) and Gillian Hughes.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements; Series Editors' Preface; Brief Biography of James Hogg - Ian Duncan; Introduction: Hogg and his Worlds - Ian Duncan; 1. Hogg, Ettrick, and Oral Tradition - Valentina Bold and Suzanne Gilbert; 2. Hogg and the Book Trade - Peter Garside; 3. Magazines, Annuals and the Press - Gillian Hughes; 4. Hogg's Reception and Reputation - Suzanne Gilbert; 5. Hogg and the Highlands - Hans de Groot; 6. Hogg and Working-Class Writing - Sharon Alker and Holly Faith Nelson; 7. Politics and the Presbyterian Tradition - Douglas S. Mack; 8. Hogg and Nationality - Caroline McCracken-Flesher; 9. Hogg, Gender, and Sexuality - Silvia Mergenthal; 10. Hogg and Music - Kirsteen McCue; 11. Hogg as Poet - Fiona Wilson; 12. Hogg and the Theatre - Meiko O'Halloran; 13. Hogg and the Short Story - John Plotz; 14. Hogg and the Novel - Graham Tulloch; 15. Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: Approaches - Penny Fielding; 16. Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner: Afterlives - Gillian Hughes; Endnotes; Further Reading; Notes on Contributors; Index.

About the Author :
Ian Duncan studied at King's College, Cambridge, and Yale University; he is Florence Green Boxby Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley. His books include Modern Romance and Transformations of the Novel (1992), Scott's Shadow: The Novel in Romantic Edinburgh (2007), and editions of works by Walter Scott and James Hogg. He is a General Editor of the Collected Works of James Hogg. The late Douglas S. Mack was formerly Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Stirling.

Review :
The book is beautifully produced [...]. No doubt those who edited and contributed to this magnificient book, and have already done so much to ensure that Hogg is no longer a second-tier author. This Companion covers [Hogg’s] entire career, and…should do much to broaden awareness of what a complex, fascinating writer Hogg was…[it] sent me back to Hogg with fresh eyes and a sharper mind With this volume, edited by the late Douglas Mack (whose work launched the great Hogg edition) and Ian Duncan, the firepower of the critics ensures that Hogg is given a thorough re-evaluation, with critial guidance, with further reading, and with (in Gillian Hughes' elegant coda) a quick tour of the effect Hogg has had on recent Scottish writing. With this volume, edited by the late Douglas Mack (whose work launched the great Hogg edition) and Ian Duncan, the firepower of the critics ensures that Hogg is given a thorough re-evaluation, with critial guidance, with further reading, and with (in Gillian Hughes' elegant coda) a quick tour of the effect Hogg has had on recent Scottish writing