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John Galt's Annals of the Parish is the first novel of the Industrial Revolution. Narrated by the minister of a rural Scottish parish, it chronicles with humour and pathos the fifty years 1760-1810 from the perspective of ordinary people swept up in social and economic transformation.
The critical apparatus in this volume includes:
. Extensive explanatory notes that identify Galt's biblical allusions, references to historical events, and social and cultural practices of the period in which the novel is set;
· Appendices that identify Galt's real-life sources for some of his incidents, and explain the history and institutions of the Church of Scotland as relevant to the story;
. A comprehensive Introduction that tells the story of this novel's production and reception, and outlines its literary and historical contexts;
. Maps to help the reader understand the geography on which the novel is acted out: south-west Scotland and its relation to the British Isles.
Robert P. Irvine is Reader in Scottish Literature at the University of Edinburgh
List of contents
Preface to
The Works of John Galt
Acknowledgements
Chronology of John Galt
Introduction
Origins
Contemporary Reception
Later Reception
Literary Context
Historical Context
Conclusion
Annals of the Parish Appendices
1: Sources for Incidents
2: History of the Church of Scotland
3: Maps of Signficant Locations
Essay on the Text
The Genesis of the Text
Variation between First and Second Editions
The Present Text
Emendations
End-of-line Hyphens
Explanatory Notes
Glossary
About the author
John Galt was a Scottish novelist, entrepreneur, and political and social commentator.Robert P. Irvine is Senior Lecturer in the Department of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of
Jane Austen (Routledge, 2005) and volume editor of
Prince Otto (Edinburgh UP, 2014) in The New Edinburgh Edition of the Collected Works of Robert Louis Stevenson.
Summary
This volume brings together three short novels that reveal the diversity of Galt's creative abilities.
