Komisaruk / Dushane The Botanic Garden by Erasmus Darwin

1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-315-53468-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 652 Seiten

Reihe: The Pickering Masters

The career of Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) affords an extraordinary glimpse into the intellectual ferment of late-eighteenth- and early-nineteenth-century Britain. As a popular poet, practicing physician, inventor of speaking machines and mechanical birds, essayer of natural history from geology to meteorology, and proponent of an evolutionary theory that inspired his famous grandson Charles, he left a lasting impression on almost every branch of knowledge. His magnum opus, and the synthesis of his myriad interests, is The Botanic Garden (1792) — an epic poem that aims to "enlist the Imagination under the banner of Science." Part I, The Economy of Vegetation, sings the praises of British industry as a dance of supernatural creatures while part II, The Loves of the Plants, wittily employs metaphors of human courtship to describe the reproductive cycles of hundreds of flowers. Darwin supplements his accomplished verses with (often much longer) "philosophical notes" that offer his idiosyncratic perspective on the scholarly controversies of the day.

Despite a recent surge of academic interest in Darwin, however, no authoritative critical edition of The Botanic Garden exists, presenting a barrier to further scholarship. This two volume set comprises a complete, meticulously transcribed, reading text — including all the poetry, prose apparatus, and illustrations — along with extensive commentary. Throughout Darwin is situated within contemporary debates about the natural sciences, the "science of the mind", aesthetics, sexuality, politics, and spirituality, among other concerns. This set will be of interest to readers across these and related disciplines as the definitive reference edition of The Botanic Garden and due to its efforts to make the work more practically and intellectually accessible to seasoned and novice readers alike.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Komisaruk, Adam

Dushane, Allison

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Lyrik und Dichter
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Englische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Strömungen & Epochen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literatur: Sammlungen, Anthologien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Volume One

- Editors’ Introduction

- Prologue: The Botanic Garden as Organism

- Cultivating the Garden: Erasmus Darwin, 1731-1802

- The Botanic Garden: The Text

- Contexts: Aesthetic Practice and Theory

- Contexts: The Science of the Mind

- Contexts: Love and Sexuality

- Contexts: Politics

- Contexts: Spirituality

- Contexts: The Natural Sciences

- Contexts: Evolutionary Theory and the Two Darwins

- Bibliography

- Reading Text of The Economy of Vegetation

- Front Matter

- Canto I

- Canto II

- Canto III

- Canto IV

- Additional Notes

- Back Matter

- Apparatus to The Economy of Vegetation

- Editors’ Annotations

- Discussion of Illustrations

- Textual Notes





Volume Two

- Reading Text of The Loves of the Plants

A. Canto I

B. First Interlude

C. Canto II

D. Second Interlude

E. Canto III

F. Third Interlude

G. Canto IV

H. Additional Notes

I. Back Matter

- Apparatus to The Loves of the Plants

- Editors’ Annotations

- Discussion of Illustrations

- Textual Notes

- Taxonomic Table to The Loves of the Plants