The Work and the Reader in Literary Studies: Scholarly Editing and Book History

By the late 1980s the concept of the work had slipped out of sight, consigned to its last refuge in the library catalogue as concepts of discourse and text took its place. Scholarly editors, who depended on it, found no grounding in literary theory for their practice. But fundamental ideas do not go away, and the work is proving to be one of them. New interest in the activity of the reader in the work has broadened the concept, extending it historically and sweeping away its once-supposed aesthetic objecthood. Concurrently, the advent of digital scholarly editions is recasting the editorial endeavour. The Work and The Reader in Literary Studies tests its argument against a range of book-historically inflected case-studies from Hamlet editions to Romantic poetry archives to the writing practices of Joseph Conrad and D. H. Lawrence. It newly justifies the practice of close reading in the digital age.

Table of Contents:
Preface; List of illustrations; 1. Introduction: the book, the work and the scholarly edition; 2. Reviving the work-concept: music, literature and historic buildings; 3. The digital native encounters the printed scholarly edition called Hamlet; 4. The reader-oriented scholarly edition; 5. Digital editions: the archival impulse and the editorial impulse; 6. The work, the version and the Charles Harpur Critical Archive; 7. Book history and literary study: the late nineteenth century and Rolf Boldrewood; 8. Book history and literary study: Joseph Conrad and D. H. Lawrence; 9. Adaptation, folklore and the work: the Ned Kelly story; 10. Conclusion: what editors edit, and the role of the reader; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
Paul Eggert is Professor Emeritus at Loyola University, Chicago and the University of New South Wales. He previously held the Svaglic Chair in Textual Studies at Loyola University. He has edited critical editions of works by D. H. Lawrence, Henry Kingsley, Rolf Boldrewood, Henry Lawson and Joseph Conrad, and is the author of Securing the Past: Conservation in Art, Architecture and Literature (Cambridge, 2009), which won the Society for Textual Scholarship's Finneran Award as the best book of editorial theory for 2009-10.

Review :
'Eggert's evident expertise and genuine passion for the subject underpins a volume of true worth. The Work and The Reader in Literary Studies offers an informed reflection of scholarly editing, book history and literary studies by a textual editor of international standing. It is a welcome addition to the field of textual studies, exploring the possibilities of the discipline and re-envisioning the role of the scholarly editor.' Allan H. Simmons, St Mary's University and General Editor of the series The Cambridge Edition of the Works of Joseph Conrad 'Advancing a literary-aware form of book history and a book-historically informed literary criticism, Paul Eggert's The Work and The Reader in Literary Studies presents one of the finest and best-argued editorial theories textual scholarship has seen since the beginning of the twenty-first century.' Dirk Van Hulle, Universiteit Antwerpen 'We can imagine Eggert's digitally deployed work-concept as … an assembly in cyberspace-time, a gathering of minds around a matter of common concern.' Christine Froula, Textual Cultures 'This book will certainly be of interest to textual scholars and scholarly editors (especially those engaged in digital projects) … [and] for those seeking an introduction to the major theoretical problems in scholarly editing and textual studies.' Anna Muenchrath, The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America '… practising print and especially digital editors, book historians, and those more broadly interested in (re)incorporating those disciplines into the practice of reading, will find much to learn from in this always fascinating and richly detailed volume.' John K. Young, Script & Print 'What follows is 200 pages of brilliant editorial discussion that blends strands of nostalgia wth strands of elegant self-deprecating irony.' Cristina Urchueguía, Ecdotica 'The Work and the Reader in Literary Studies is the most substantial book I am aware of today to lay out the land of literary study on foundations of documented transmission of works of literature …' Hans Walter Gabler, Variants 'Paul Eggert's The Work and the Reader in Literary Studies makes an important intervention in textual scholarship by redefining scholarly editions as functions of a process enacted in dynamic relation to an idea of a work on one hand and imagined readers - including the author as a first reader of drafts - on the other.' Matt Cohen, Textual Cultures 'Concepts of document, text, and work are parsed with care, generating many valuable insights and clarifications …' Ian Cornelius, Textual Cultures 'Paul Eggert's The Work and the Reader in Literary Studies offers an important perspective on the value of the work-concept in textual scholarship.' Alan Galey, Textual Cultures 'In the meantime, practising print and especially digital editors, book historians, and those more broadly interested in (re)incorporating those disciplines into the practice of reading, will find much to learn from in this always fascinating and richly detailed volume.' John K. Young, Script and Print '… The Work and the Reader in Literary Studies is the most substantial book I am aware of today to lay out the land of literary study on foundations of documented transmission of works of literature: works and the texts that adumbrate them, written and re-written, read and re-read, and ever safeguarded by the manifold agencies of authors, scribes, typists and typesetters, digital key-strokers, publisher's editors, book historians, commercial or scholarly editors, and ever and ever again readers. The Work and the Reader in Literary Studies forms an important point of entry to re conceptualisings of literary study.' Hans Walter Gabler, Journal of the European Society for Textual Scholarship (ESTS)