A Thackeray Dictionary

Author : Isadore Gilbert Mudge
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781332224753
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (247 download)

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Download or read book Thackeray Dictionary written by Isadore Gilbert Mudge and published by . This book was released on 2015-08-05 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Thackeray Dictionary: The Characters and Scenes of the Novels and Short Stories Alphabetically Arranged Though the popular interest in Dickens has called forth various Dickens Dictionaries, there has so far been no corresponding reference book for the novels of his great contemporary. To supply this need is the aim of the present Thackeray Dictionary. As pioneers in the field the compilers have not been so ambitious as to attempt absolute completeness. It might be interesting and desirable to have a real Thackeray Encyclopaedia which should contain information on all points connected, in any way with Thackeray's writings. The present work, however, is simply a dictionary of the novels and of such of the short stories as are to be found in the Biographical edition of Thackeray's works published by Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. In view of the fact that so many of Thackeray's shorter pieces are midway in form between an essay or sketch and a short story, the term short story has been considered as sufficiently elastic to cover such sketches as contain either definite character drawing or many fictitious names. The best example of this is the Book of Snobs. The aim has been to include in the Dictionary the names of all characters, either fictitious or historical, that take a definite part, however small, in the action of a novel or short story. Allusions are, of course, omitted, fictitious place names - towns, rivers, streets, etc. - are included, but real names of this sort have been, as a rule, omitted, as their inclusion would have made the list in its present form too cumbersome. Except in the case of the various burlesques historical characters have been differentiated from fictitious. Much has been written about originals, or supposed originals, of many of Thackeray's characters. In some cases Thackeray undoubtedly drew from life, but the mania for tracing prototypes has led to many identifications for which there is little foundation. Wherever the identification of a character with an original rests on good authority, the original is given here; but if the authority is questionable, the identification has not been accepted. In view of the many inaccuracies along this line, it has seemed best, in all cases, to give the authority for the identification. For some originals many authorities might be quoted. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."