Review by Choice Review
Some books achieve a celebrity status beyond the relatively narrow bounds of literary scholarship. An obvious instance is Robinson Crusoe, and Lovett's painstaking checklist provides solid evidence of just how extensive the fame and influence of Defoe's best-known novel have been. Lovett identifies 1,198 separate items including editions, significant variants of editions, pirated editions, abridgments, editions of abridgments, abridgments specifically designed for children, reissues, and free adaptations. And this count does not even include separate editions of The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe or Serious Reflections. . .of Robinson Crusoe, which Lovett cites only if they were packaged with the original novel. The arrangement is chronological, and there is an index by publisher. Each entry includes the title as it appears on the title page, Defoe's name (when included), publication data from the title page, the pagination, a description of the frontispiece, the number of illustrations, a description of contents, and notes indicating the relationship to other editions or issues. There is no other listing this comprehensive; so, although undergraduate collections will not require it, research collections will find it a valuable addition.-K. P. Mulcahy, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
