British It-Narratives, 1750û1830

These prose fictions take as their central characters animals or inanimate objects. While some are told from the perspective of the objects themselves, others use them as hubs around which other characters' stories are spun. Though similar tales form the basis of many modern children's books, it-narratives began in the eighteenth-century as an adult genre. Exploring the circulation of objects in an increasingly commercial society, they provide an insight into important social and cultural trends. Central to the genre are questions about how we differ from animals or objects, not least in an age haunted by the Atlantic slave trade and the imposition of capital punishment. These narratives are also of contemporary relevance to our concerns about cyborgs, smart machines, animal rights, the ethics of cloning and ownership of the human genome.This four-volume reset collection includes numerous examples of narratives in different forms such as short stories, excerpts from novels, periodical fiction and serialized works. An international team of editors provide extensive apparatus including a substantial general introduction, volume introductions, headnotes, endnotes and a consolidated index. The collection will be of value to those studying eighteenth-century and Romantic literature, children's literature, literary studies, material culture and historians and philosophers concerned with personal identity.