The Dunciad in Four Books 2nd edition by Rumbold, Valerie (2009) Paperback

by Valerie Rumbold

The Dunciad in Four Books of 1743 was the culmination of the series of Dunciads which Alexander Pope produced over the last decade and a half of his life. It comprises not only a poem, but also a mass of authorial annotation and appendices, and this authoritative edition is the only one available which gives all the verse and the prose in a clearly laid-out form, with a full modern commentary. Accessibly presented on the same page as Pope’s text are explanatory notes, written in a style adapted to the needs of undergraduate readers, but still comprehensive enough to address the interests of scholars. The many books and pamphlets to which Pope refers have been examined in detail, and the commentary takes advantage of the fifty years’ scholarship on literary, bibliographical, cultural and political aspects of the period which has accumulated since James Sutherland’s The Dunciad , volume five of the Twickenham Edition. A substantial introduction offers a stimulating and helpful approach to the work, and the bibliography includes extensive suggestions for further reading.

Paperback

First published June 11, 2014

Reviews

[Jemma Forster]

So bloody clever

[laura nicholson]

pope put far too much effort into shading everyone who has ever wronged him like touch some grass my guy

[Lucy Bell]

I am so confused.

[Patrick Rabey]

Definitely gonna come back to this one with more attention to Scriblerus' notes
The essay nearly killed me too