A Handbook to English romanticism /

This Handbook, a collaborative venture of 29 English and French scholars, consists of a series of alphabatized brief essays, including 35 entries on aesthetic, religious, cultural, and historical backgrounds of romanticism, 47 on notable men, and 4 on notable women. It is intended primarily for students, for whom it is "often difficult, amid the excitement of different critical expositions to discover the factual background of the discussion." Yet the Handbook cannot very well avoid critical exposition; instead, what it largely avoids are the approaches and issues that have shaped the last 20 years or so of romantic research and criticism. Many entries are sound, informative, and relevant, but others seem eccentric, peripheral, and dated in their assessments; some occasionally even get "the factual background" wrong. Libraries with limited budgets may wish to wait and compare the Handbook with the forthcoming companion to British romanticism announced by Cambridge University Press. C. Walker; Carleton College