essays and reviews

Essays and Reviews

Glenn everett , associate professor of english, university of tennessee at martin.

[ Victorian Web Home —> Authors —> Religion —> The Church of England —> Broad Church Anglicanism —> Sermons ]

[ Disponible en español ]

Essays and Reviews , published in 1860, is a collection of seven essays on religion, covering such topics as the Biblical researches of the German critics, the evidences of Christianity, religious thought in England, and the cosmology of Genesis. Today they seem innocuous enough; we are surprised to learn that the book was considered shocking and that the essayists were called “The Seven Against Christ.“ The book was important solely because of its date and its authors, seven liberal Anglican churchmen. Appearing and one year after Darwin's Origin of Species , it summed up a three-quarter-century-long challenge to Biblical history by the Higher Critics and to Biblical prehistory by scientists working in the new fields of geology and biology .

Left: Dean Liddell . Middle: Benjamin Jowett . Right: Frederick Temple . All three courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London. [Click on images to enlarge them and for more information about them.]

The heart of the book is Benjamin Jowett's piece “On the Interpretation of Scripture.” Jowett, later master of Balliol College , Oxford, argued that the Bible ought to be read like any other book--in other words, our aim ought to be to recover the authors' original meaning within their own context and not to expect that Genesis will accord with Newtonian astronomy. His suggestion that New Testament writers had changed the meaning of passages from the Psalms that appear in the Epistles radically implied that divine inspiration had nothing to do with their creative process. He added that Christians ought no longer to ignore the work of the nineteenth-century critics, but to welcome it. The “higher” critics, mostly Germans, had sought to confirm the events narrated in the Bible from independent sources--which implies, obviously, that the Bible's accuracy can be doubted. All this had been said before, by those outside the Church; but these essayists were making the same arguments from inside the Church.

Related Materials

• A Review of the Shea and Whitla edition of Essays and Reviews (2000)
• The use of “accomodation” in the Higher Criticism
• Frederick Temple and Broad Church Conceptions of the Bible

Last modified 1988; "Related Materials" added 8 July 2004

Essays and Reviews

The 1860 text and its reading, victor shea and william whitla, eds..

• Literary Criticism

• Author Bio(s)

Essays and Reviews is a collection of seven articles that appeared in 1860, sparking a Victorian culture war that lasted for at least a decade. With pieces written by such prominent Oxford and Cambridge intellectuals as Benjamin Jowett, Mark Pattison, Baden Powell, and Frederick Temple (later archbishop of Canterbury), the volume engaged the relations between religious faith and current topics of the day in education, the classics, theology, science, history, literature, biblical studies, hermeneutics, philology, politics, and philosophy. Upon publication, the church, the university, the press, the government, and the courts, both ecclesiastical and secular, joined in an intense dispute. The book signaled an intellectual and religious crisis, raised influential issues of free speech, and questioned the authority and control of the Anglican Church in Victorian society. The collection became a best-seller and led to three sensational heresy trials.

Although many historians and literary critics have identified Essays and Reviews as a pivotal text of high Victorianism, until now it has been almost inaccessible to modern readers. This first critical edition, edited by Victor Shea and William Whitla, provides extensive annotation to map the various positions on the controversies that the book provoked. The editors place the volume in its complex social context and supply commentary, background materials, composition and publishing history, textual notes, and a broad range of new supporting documents, including material from the trials, manifestos, satires, and contemporary illustrations.

Not only does such an annotated critical edition of Essays and Reviews indicate the impact that the volume had on Victorian society; it also sheds light on our own contemporary cultural institutions and controversies.

• P.O. Box 400318 (Postal)
• Charlottesville, VA 22904-4318
• 210 Sprigg Lane (Courier)
• Charlottesville, VA 22903-2417
• 434 924-3468 (main)
• 1-800-831-3406 (toll-free)
• 434 982-2655 (fax)
• General Inquiries
• Staff Directory

Recently Visited

Top Categories

Children's Books

Discover Diverse Voices

More Categories

All Categories

New & Trending

Deals & Rewards

Best Sellers

From Our Editors

Memberships

Communities

• Literature & Fiction
• History & Criticism

Amazon Prime Free Trial

FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button and confirm your Prime free trial.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited FREE Prime delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Buy new: .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } -8% $45.76 $ 45 . 76 FREE delivery Tuesday, December 17 Ships from: Amazon Sold by: QuickUsta LLC

Return this item for free.

We offer easy, convenient returns with at least one free return option: no shipping charges. All returns must comply with our returns policy.

• Go to your orders and start the return
• Select your preferred free shipping option
• Drop off and leave!

Save with Used - Acceptable .savingPriceOverride { color:#CC0C39!important; font-weight: 300!important; } .reinventMobileHeaderPrice { font-weight: 400; } #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPriceSavingsPercentageMargin, #apex_offerDisplay_mobile_feature_div .reinventPricePriceToPayMargin { margin-right: 4px; } $27.39 $ 27 . 39 FREE delivery December 14 - 17 on orders shipped by Amazon over $35 Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Booking-it

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the author

Edgar Allan Poe : Essays and Reviews : Theory of Poetry / Reviews of British and Continental Authors / Reviews of American Authors and American Literature / Magazines and Criticism / The Literary & Social Scene / Articles and Marginalia (Library of America) Hardcover – August 15, 1984

Purchase options and add-ons.

• Print length 1544 pages
• Language English
• Publisher Library of America
• Publication date August 15, 1984
• Dimensions 5.14 x 1.8 x 8.13 inches
• ISBN-10 0940450194
• ISBN-13 978-0940450196
• See all details

Frequently bought together

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Editorial Reviews

From the publisher, about the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Library of America (August 15, 1984)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 1544 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0940450194
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0940450196
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.1 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.14 x 1.8 x 8.13 inches
• #1,121 in American Fiction Anthologies
• #2,268 in Fiction Writing Reference (Books)
• #9,197 in Short Stories Anthologies

About the author

Edgar allan poe.

Author, poet, and literary critic, Edgar Allan Poe is credited with pioneering the short story genre, inventing detective fiction, and contributing to the development of science fiction. However, Poe is best known for his works of the macabre, including such infamous titles as The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Lenore, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Part of the American Romantic Movement, Poe was one of the first writers to make his living exclusively through his writing, working for literary journals and becoming known as a literary critic. His works have been widely adapted in film. Edgar Allan Poe died of a mysterious illness in 1849 at the age of 40.

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 88% 0% 5% 0% 7% 88%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 88% 0% 5% 0% 7% 0%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 88% 0% 5% 0% 7% 5%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 88% 0% 5% 0% 7% 0%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 88% 0% 5% 0% 7% 7%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the book interesting and provides a great overview of the author's thoughts on what makes good prose and poetry. They also say it's worth the price.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book interesting and gives a great overview of the author's thoughts on what makes good prose and poetry.

"...Hawthorne, Coleridge and Longfellow, among so many others, are gems of knowledge , humor and biting honesty that may surprise those who have as yet..." Read more

"...It's an interesting insight to someone we thought we knew.And if Elvis Mitchell is reading this, I beg you--YOU NEED THIS!" Read more

"It's cool to gain an insight into Mr. Poe. This book is a must read for Poe fans." Read more

Customers find the book worth the price.

"...but I can say without hesitation that those pages alone have been worth the price . And with every paragraph I actually wish the book were longer...." Read more

"...the essay describing how he came to write 'The Raven' is worth the price of this volume ." Read more

"fast, cheap , as advetized. Great!" Read more

• Sort by reviews type Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Essays and reviews

By edgar allan poe.

• 1 Want to read

Preview Book

My Reading Lists:

Use this Work

Create a new list

My book notes.

My private notes about this edition:

Check nearby libraries

• Library.link

Buy this book

This collection of Poe's writings includes his thoughts on poetry; reviews he wrote on many other authors, British, American, and Continental; his views of the literary world he moved in; essays, etc. A valuable tool for anyone studying Poe and his work.

Previews available in: English

Showing 2 featured editions. View all 2 editions?

Add another edition?

Book Details

Table of contents, edition notes.

Includes bibliographical references and index. "G.R. Thompson wrote the notes and selected the texts for this volume"--Prelim. p.

Classifications

The physical object, source records, community reviews (0).

• Created April 1, 2008
• 21 revisions

Wikipedia citation

Copy and paste this code into your Wikipedia page. Need help?

Essays and Reviews

Ask the publishers to restore access to 500,000+ books.

Internet Archive Audio

• Grateful Dead
• Old Time Radio
• 78 RPMs and Cylinder Recordings
• Audio Books & Poetry
• Computers, Technology and Science
• Music, Arts & Culture
• News & Public Affairs
• Spirituality & Religion
• Radio News Archive

• Flickr Commons
• Occupy Wall Street Flickr
• NASA Images
• Solar System Collection
• Ames Research Center

• All Software
• Old School Emulation
• MS-DOS Games
• Historical Software
• Classic PC Games
• Software Library
• Kodi Archive and Support File
• Vintage Software
• CD-ROM Software
• CD-ROM Software Library
• Software Sites
• Tucows Software Library
• Shareware CD-ROMs
• Software Capsules Compilation
• CD-ROM Images
• ZX Spectrum
• DOOM Level CD

• Smithsonian Libraries
• FEDLINK (US)
• Lincoln Collection
• American Libraries
• Canadian Libraries
• Universal Library
• Project Gutenberg
• Children's Library
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Books by Language
• Additional Collections

• Prelinger Archives
• Democracy Now!
• Occupy Wall Street
• TV NSA Clip Library
• Animation & Cartoons
• Arts & Music
• Computers & Technology
• Cultural & Academic Films
• Ephemeral Films
• Sports Videos
• Videogame Videos
• Youth Media

Search the history of over 916 billion web pages on the Internet.

Mobile Apps

• Wayback Machine (iOS)
• Wayback Machine (Android)

Browser Extensions

Archive-it subscription.

• Explore the Collections
• Build Collections

Save Page Now

Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future.

Please enter a valid web address

• Donate Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape

Essays and reviews. : Selected from the Princeton review

Bookreader item preview, share or embed this item, flag this item for.

• Graphic Violence
• Explicit Sexual Content
• Hate Speech
• Misinformation/Disinformation
• Marketing/Phishing/Advertising
• Misleading/Inaccurate/Missing Metadata

comment Reviews

Download options.

For users with print-disabilities

IN COLLECTIONS

Uploaded by Unknown on June 28, 2009

SIMILAR ITEMS (based on metadata)