The Coverley Papers

Various

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• Publié par: hupah
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 30
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Coverley
Papers, by Various
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**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla
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Title: The Coverley PapersAuthor: Various
Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6482]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of
schedule] [This file was first posted on December
20, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG
EBOOK THE COVERLEY PAPERS ***
Produced by Tonya Allen, Charles Franks and the
Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
THE COVERLEY
PAPERS
FROM THE 'SPECTATOR'EDITED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY
O. M. MYERSPREFACE
The following selection comprises all numbers of
the Spectator which are concerned with the history
or character of Sir Roger de Coverley, and all
those which arise out of the Spectator's visit to his
country house. Sir Roger's name occurs in some
seventeen other papers, but in these he either
receives only passing mention, or is introduced as
a speaker in conversations where the real interest
is the subject under discussion. In these his
character is well maintained, as, for example, at
the meeting of the club described in Spectator 34,
where he warns the Spectator not to meddle with
country squires, but they add no traits to the
portrait we already have of him. No. 129 is included
because it arises naturally out of No. 127, and
illustrates the relation between the town and
country. No. 410 has been omitted because it was
condemned by Addison as inconsistent with the
character of Sir Roger, together with No. 544,
which is an unconvincing attempt to reconcile it
with the whole scheme. Some of the papers have
been slightly abridged where they would not be
acceptable to the taste of a later age.
The papers are not all signed, but the authorship is
never in doubt. Where signatures are attached, C,
L, I, and O are the mark of Addison's work; R and
T of Steele's, and X of Budgell's. [Footnote:
Spectator 555.]I have availed myself freely of the references and
allusions collected by former editors, and I have
gratefully to acknowledge the help of Miss G. E.
Hadow in reading my introductory essay.
O. M. M.CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
COVERLEY PAPERS.
Spectator 1 Addison (C)
" 2 Steele (R)
" 106 Addison (L)
" 107 Steele (R)
" 108 Addison (L)
" 109 Steele (R)
" 110 Addison (L)
" 112 " (L)
" 113 Steele (R)
" 114 " (T)
" 115 Addison (L)
" 116 Budgell (X)" 117 Addison (L)
" 118 Steele (T)
" 119 Addison (L)
" 120 " (L)
" 121 " (L)
" 122 " (L)
" 123 " (L)
" 125 " (C)
" 126 " (C)
" 127 " (C)
" 128 " (C)
" 129 " (C)
" 130 " (C)
" 131 " (C)
" 132 Steele (T)" 269 Addison (L)
" 329 " (L)
" 335 Addison (L)
" 359 Budgell (X)
" 383 Addison (I)
" 517 " (O)
NOTES
APPENDIX I. On Coffee-Houses
APPENDIX II. On the Spectator's Acquaintance
APPENDIX III. On the Death of Sir Roger
APPENDIX IV. On the Spectator's Popularity
INDEXINTRODUCTION
It is necessary to study the work of Joseph
Addison in close relation to the time in which he
lived, for he was a true child of his century, and
even in his most distinguishing qualities he was not
so much in opposition to its ideas as in advance of
them. The early part of the eighteenth century was
a very middle-aged period: the dreamers of the
seventeenth century had grown into practical men;
the enthusiasts of the century before had sobered
down into reasonable beings. We no longer have
the wealth of detail, the love of stories, the delight
in the concrete for its own sake of the Chaucerian
and Elizabethan children; these men seek for what
is typical instead of enjoying what is detailed, argue
and illustrate instead of telling stories, observe
instead of romancing. Captain Sentry 'behaved
himself with great gallantry in several sieges'
[Footnote: Spectator 2.] but the Spectator does not
care for them as Chaucer cares for the battlefields
of his Knight. 'One might … recount' many tales
touching on many points in our speculations, and
no child and no Elizabethan would refrain from
doing so, but the Spectator will not 'go out of the
occurrences of common life, but assert it as a
general observation.' [Footnote: Spectator 107] He
is in perfect harmony with his age, too, in the
intensely rational view which he takes of ghosts
[Footnote: Spectator 110] and witches, [Footnote:
Spectator 117] for it was a period in which men