Selected Essays, 1917–1932 is a collection ofprose andliterary criticism byT. S. Eliot. Eliot's work fundamentally changed literary thinking andSelected Essays provides both an overview and an in-depth examination of his theory.[1] It was published in 1932 by his employers,Faber & Faber, costing 12/6 (2009: £32).[2]
In addition to his poetry, by 1932, Eliot was already accepted as one of English Literature's most important critics. In this position he was instrumental in the reviving interest in the long‐neglected Jacobean playwrights.[3]A Dialogue on Dramatic Poetry was originally an addendum to Eliot's preface to Dryden'sEssay of Dramatick Poesie (1928 reprint).[4] Further essays includeThe Metaphysical Poets (1921) in which Eliot argued that a "dissociation of sensibility" set in... due to the influence of ...Milton andDryden.[5] Furthermore the modern poet ‘must be difficult’... ‘to force, to dislocate if necessary, language into his meaning’.[6]Philip Massinger (1920) contains hisaphorism "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal".[5]
Eliot converted to theChurch of England and some of the essays expressed the form and discipline he felt necessary for fulfilment in his own life.[7]For Lancelot Andrewes (1926), examinesAndrewes, a 17th-century Anglican bishop who Eliot considers an important figure in the history of the church, distinguished for the quality of his thoughts and prose.[8] InThe Humanism of Irving Babbitt (1927), Eliot posits thatBabbitt's faith in civilization must have a discipline derived from dogmatic religious authority.[8]
In 1951 Eliot republished the book asSelected Essays, with a new preface and 5 additional essays (listed below). These were all written within 3 years of the original 1932 publication. Eliot notes several essays not collected in this edition but declaresSelected Essays to already be 'bulky enough'.
Selected Essays was placed fourth in theIntercollegiate Studies Institute'sFifty Best Books of the Century and sixth inModern Library'sBest 20th-Century Nonfiction.[9]
Eliot dedicated the collection toHarriet Shaw Weaver[10]
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
| Early poems |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Later poems | ||
| Plays | ||
| Prose | ||
| Adaptations | ||
| Publishing | ||
| Related | ||
| People | ||
Authority control databases: National |
|---|