Matthew Davis

1650–1850 combines fresh considerations of prominent authors and artists with searches for overlooked or offbeat elements of the Enlightenment legacy. Readers of Volume 26 will explore the response among British women writers to Islam, female religious enthusiasts, theories of monarchy, famous authors living in villages, and a special feature on metaphor in the Enlightenment. Enlivening the volume is a cavalcade of full-length book reviews.

Volume 24 features commentary on a range of Johnsonian topics: his reaction to Milton, his relation to the Allen family, his notes in his edition of Shakespeare, his use of Oliver Goldsmith in his Dictionary, and his always fascinating Nachleben. The volume also includes articles on topics of strong interest to Johnson: penal reform, Charlotte Lennox's professional literary career, and the "conjectural history" of Homer in the eighteenth century.