Recent reviews: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu & George MacDonald editions

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A lovely review of Roderick McGillis and John Pennington’s edition of George MacDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind recently appeared in VII: An Anglo-American Literary Review. Daniel Gabelman writes:

“In addition to the text of At the Back of the North Wind and the seventy-six original illustrations by Arthur Hughes, the Broadview edition is packed with material such as a preface by Stephen Prickett, a lengthy introduction, footnotes, and a host of appendices on everything from “the Serial Publication of At the Back of the North Wind” to “Children’s Literature and the Victorian” to “Victorian Fairy-Tale Debate” to maps of London and a diagram of the parts of a horse…[I]t will undoubtedly become the new standard text for scholarly discourse on the novel and is also an outstanding choice for classroom use.”

—Daniel Gabelman, Teacher of English, Eastbourne College, reviewed in VII: An Anglo-American Literary Review, Volume 29

Also reviewed this month in the Times Literary Supplement was Teresa Heffernan and Daniel O’Quinn’s new edition of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s Turkish Embassy Letters. The reviewer, Norma Clarke, offers an interesting overview of Montagu’s travels to the Ottoman Empire in the 18th century and the impact of her written accounts of the Ottoman culture; about the Broadview edition, Clarke writes:

“Immediately popular, the Letters retain their freshness. The voice is distinctive, and the personality commanding; some of the adventures are hair raising (the “frightful” precipices dividing Bohemia from Saxony were worse than anything in the Alps) and some of the individuals are curious and engaging. …A generous supply of appendices and notes situating the manuscript in the context of Orientalist debates, descriptions of Ottoman governance and society, eighteenth-century accounts of Islam, women and the harem, and the smallpox controversy makes this edition ideal for student use.”

—Norma Clarke, Times Literary Supplement, May 3, 2013

For more information on these editions, please visit www.broadviewpress.com.

Secret Commissions reviewed in Victorian Periodicals Review

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Stephen Donovan and Matthew Rubery’s unique anthology of Victorian investigative journalism, Secret Commissions, was recently reviewed by Ann M. Hale (University of St. Thomas) in the Spring 2013 issue of the Victorian Periodicals Review. Hale writes:

“A key strength of Secret Commissions is that the content resonates with a range of disciplines, from media studies to literature, from history to gender studies, and from documentary studies to creative-nonfiction. It introduces students to several seminal Victorian works, such as W.T. Stead’s “Maiden Tribute” (1885), James Greenwood’s “A Night in the Workhouse” (1866), and George Sims’s “How the Poor Live” (1883). Pieces by well-known figures, such as Stead, Dickens, Mayhew, Sims, and Greenwood, appear alongside some relatively unknown writers, such as “A. B.” and Herbert Cadett….Outside of the classroom, the primary value of Secret Commissions is that it offers a glimpse into the development of investigative journalism in the nineteenth century. While it will be of most use to those with little knowledge of the subject matter since it is comprised primarily of excerpts, the anthology does gather together previously uncollected material and draws attention to the need for further study. Secret Commissions has a stimulant effect akin to that mentioned by Stead in that it brings the subject of Victorian investigative journalism, which could have remained dormant, to the forefront and leaves one craving more.”

To read an excerpt from Donovan and Rubery’s anthology, take a look at our earlier post on Secret Commissions here.

 

I want to tell you a story

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The newly published third edition of The Broadview Anthology of Short Fiction is a unique collection of 45 stories, with more works from the past 20 years and a greater representation of American authors than previous editions. In her Preface to the anthology, editor Sara Levine—herself a celebrated fiction writer—comments on the ways in which stories change, and how they remain innately the same, as we look at samples throughout history.

Continue reading →

ebooks on the Broadview website & other updates for the new year

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Hello everyone,

First, let me extend heartfelt thanks to the many, many academics who have been supportive over the past year of Broadview books and, more generally, of Broadview’s approach to publishing. It’s very much appreciated by all 26 of us at Broadview—and I’m sure by our authors as well!

Second, let me give you news for the new year: as of today, it’s possible for North Americans to purchase ebooks as well as traditional bound books directly from Broadview through our website. More than half the full list of Broadview titles is now available for sale in digital form—and in many cases readers have more than one electronic choice, with both EPUB and PDF versions available. Prices are typically more than 30% lower than those of the traditional bound versions. Of course no shipping charges apply, and there’s no wait for books to be delivered. (More information about formats is available here.)

For those who prefer traditional bound books, on the other hand, we are again extending the special discount that we began offering last season to those purchasing directly from the Broadview site; you can tell your students that if they enter the code broadview20% in the “coupon code” box when they are placing their order, they will obtain the special price. Whether buying ebooks or bound books from Broadview, readers are supporting environmentally sustainable practices; the great majority of Broadview bound books are printed on 100% recycled paper.

Broadview books are also available through many other sources, of course, including Google Play for ebooks, and independent and university bookshops throughout North America (and in much of the rest of the world as well) for bound books.*

Let me also mention once more something that I’ve touched on in past semesters—the powerful impact you have on student behavior if you make a point of speaking to your classes of the importance of everyone having a copy of the assigned texts. (In the survey we conducted this past spring, 84% of students reported that it makes a difference to their behavior if a professor “strongly emphasizes the importance of their having the assigned books.”)

All the best to you for 2013!

Don LePan
President, Broadview Press

*Broadview books are also available in many cases through Amazon. As a result of ongoing differences between Broadview and Amazon over terms of sale, we have not been dealing directly with Amazon.com for many months—but Amazon is continuing to list Broadview books on their site and to purchase copies of many titles through wholesalers to meet demand. Please be assured that if a Broadview title is listed by Amazon as “temporarily out of stock” that does not mean that the title is unavailable or out of print; try coming directly to the Broadview site, and you’ll find it readily available.

Goodreads giveaway

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We’re giving away books! Between now and December 14th, enter our Goodreads Giveaway to win one of five copies of Marvelous Transformations, our recently published anthology of fairy tales and contemporary criticism, edited by Christine A. Jones (University of Utah) and Jennifer Schacker (University of Guelph).

For more information on Marvelous Transformations, please visit www.broadviewpress.com.