About this Edition
This is the first installment of a complete critical edition of Godwin’s ten contributions to his Juvenile Library. It makes available for the first time since 1824 the first text that Godwin both authored and published under his own imprint, Fables Ancient and Modern. Adapted for the Use of Children from Three to Eight Years of Age (1805), along with a comprehensive introduction and extensive notes by the editors. While literary historians have long been aware that radical author William Godwin wrote and published children's books, these works are substantially less visible than his novels and philosophical writings. Yet, the profound cultural impact of Godwin's children's literature—especially as an expression of his social politics—necessitates their reproduction and welcomes further critical inquiry.
About The Editors
Suzanne L. Barnett received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2012 and is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the English department of Manhattan College. She is currently at work on her first book project, Romantic Paganism: Ecstasy and Excess in the Shelley Circle, in which she traces the uses of a distinctly "pagan" classical world in the works of the second-generation romantics.
Katherine Bennett Gustafson studies the intersections between social and literary formation in the long eighteenth century, in particular the history of Romantic children's literature, the rise of the novel, and the histories of publishing, advertising, and readership. She is currently working on her first book project, Coming of Age: Adolescents, Publishers, and the Novel, 1719-1814. Gustafson received her B.A. from Kenyon College and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She will be joining Indiana University Northwest in the fall of 2014 as an Assistant Professor.
About The Design
This edition was designed at the University of Maryland by Michael Quilligan, Site Manager at Romantic Circles. The initial transformation from WORD Doc to TEI P5 was made using the OxGarage tool, with further TEI markup modifications according to RC house style by Michael Quilligan. TEI renders text archival quality for better preservation and future access. Laura Mandell and Dave Rettenmaier developed the modified versions of the transforms provided by the TEI that were used to convert the TEI files into HTML. The image associated with this edition includes elements from William Mulready's Frontispiece from Fables Ancient and Modern (1807); Used courtesy of The New York Public Library.
