How eighteenth-century literature depended on misinterpretation—and how this still shapes the way we read Reading It Wrong is a new history of eighteenth-century English literature that explores what has been everywhere evident but rarely talked about: the misunderstanding, muddle and confusion of readers of the past when they first met the uniquely elusive writings of the period. Abigail Williams uses the marginal marks and jottings of these readers to show that flawed interpretation has its own history—and its own important role to play—in understanding how, why and what we read. Focussing on the first half of the eighteenth century, the golden age of satire, Reading It Wrong tells how a combination of changing readerships and fantastically tricky literature created the perfect grounds for puzzlement and partial comprehension. Through the lens of a history of imperfect reading, we see that many of the period’s major works—by writers including Daniel Defoe, Eliza Haywood, Mary Wortley Montagu, Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift—both generated and depended upon widespread misreading. Being foxed by a satire, coded fiction or allegory was, like Wordle or the cryptic crossword, a form of entertainment, and perhaps a group sport. Rather than worrying that we don’t have all the answers, we should instead recognize the cultural importance of not knowing.

The Journal to Stella, Jonathan Swift's letters to Esther Johnson, or 'Stella', and Rebecca Dingley, written between September 1710 and June 1713, offers an extraordinary commentary on Swift's experiences in London during the most politically active and exciting years of his career and evidence of his evolving relationship with the two women. This edition seeks for the first time both to situate the letters alongside Swift's other works and to place them within their original political, historical and cultural contexts. It brings together a combination of printed work and manuscript to present the most complete and accessible text possible, enhanced by the use of the latest digital image analysis techniques to reinstate previously indecipherable material. In addition to a new critical introduction and appendices, there is also a biographical appendix derived from recently available resources.

The Journal to Stella, Jonathan Swift's letters to Esther Johnson, or 'Stella', and Rebecca Dingley, written between September 1710 and June 1713, offers an extraordinary commentary on Swift's experiences in London during the most politically active and exciting years of his career and evidence of his evolving relationship with the two women. This edition seeks for the first time both to situate the letters alongside Swift's other works and to place them within their original political, historical and cultural contexts. It brings together a combination of printed work and manuscript to present the most complete and accessible text possible, enhanced by the use of the latest digital image analysis techniques to reinstate previously indecipherable material. In addition to a new critical introduction and appendices, there is also a biographical appendix derived from recently available resources.

A vivid exploration of the evolution of reading as an essential social and domestic activity during the eighteenth century Two centuries before the advent of radio, television, and motion pictures, books were a cherished form of popular entertainment and an integral component of domestic social life. In this fascinating and vivid history, Abigail Williams explores the ways in which shared reading shaped the lives and literary culture of the time, offering new perspectives on how books have been used by their readers, and the part they have played in middle-class homes and families. Drawing on marginalia, letters and diaries, library catalogues, elocution manuals, subscription lists, and more, Williams offers fresh and fascinating insights into reading, performance, and the history of middle-class home life.