MHRA Publication

⌂ See also the home page of the Texts and Translations book series Critical Texts

Published October 2006

Published November 2006

‘This is a welcome edition and a particularly timely one in the context of the current reappraisal of the minores and consequent refinement of our picture of the French Enlightenment, and of the problematization of dramatic reception.’ — John Dunkley, Modern Language Review 104.4, 2009, 1145 (full text online)

Published March 2016

‘Connon’s rich critical edition boasts extensive contextualization and intriguing paratexts. His wide-ranging Introduction analyses the tragedic elements of pity, terror, and character self-revelation, alongside Piron’s spirited self-defence against Prévost’s accusations of plagiarism.’ — Síofra Pierse, Modern Language Review 113.1, January 2018, 244-45 (full text online)

Published November 2016

Published April 2017

Les Veuves créoles
Edited by Julia Prest
Critical Texts 34

‘In compiling this edition, Prest aims to reveal how the play could be ‘of considerable interest today in the context of renewed and ongoing research into the story of French colonialism and, increasingly, in colonial and créole drama’ (p. 5). This edition of Les Veuves créoles is a concise and riveting introduction to these research areas, and would in addition provide an ideal teaching tool.’ — Vanessa Lee, Bulletin of Francophone Postcolonial Studies 8.2, Autumn 2017, 26-27

Published August 2017

‘In this fine book, Jessica Goodman provides the full corrected and modernized texts of five plays from the era of the French Revolution, three of them published in 1791 and two available only in manuscript... Goodman has done wonderful detective work, providing us with the performance history of the plays, the number of people likely to have seen them, and the amount the authors made on the productions... I hope that Goodman will continue to haunt the archives and bring more gems like these plays back into circulation, and I am confident that readers of her introduction and notes will find them useful and instructive.’ — Robert H. Blackman, H-France February 2018, 18.30
‘In this intriguing volume, Jessica Goodman unites five texts dating from the weeks following the death of Mirabeau on 2 April 1791... Particularly interesting is her analysis of Mirabeau aux Champs-Élysées and Gouges’s authorial strategies. This volume is an important contribution to scholarship on the Revolutionary period and, more generally, to our understanding of the commemorative practices of the late eighteenth century.’ — John R. Iverson, French Studies 72.4, October 2018, 601-02

Published September 2017

‘Théâtre de la Révolution is an impeccably researched edition of Michel-Jean Sedaine’s last operatic works... Sedaine’s Théâtre de la Révolution will be required reading for scholars of eighteenth-century theatre and music. Thanks to Darlow’s introduction, the work is also an essential contribution to scholarship on cultural production and policy during the Revolution... Overall, eighteenth-century French musical theatre, ignored by dix-huitièmistes for generations, has a champion in Mark Darlow and a welcome new title in his edition of Sedaine’s last librettos.’ — Logan Connors, H-France 18.95, April 2018
‘This is another admirable critical edition from Darlow which sheds new light on a playwright’s transition from Ancien Régime to Revolution.’ — Clare Siviter, Modern Language Review 114.1, January 2019, 144-45 (full text online)

Published May 2019

‘This volume is an important addition to the corpus of Molière reception in the Enlightenment. The arc of Le Misanthrope’s reception can be traced back to the play’s first appearance with critical responses such as Donneau de Visé’s Lettre écrite sur la comédie du Misanthrope; but this new comparative and elucidating edition of two eighteenth-century sequels will encourage scholars and students to encompass a wider range of texts in their reflections on Molière’s audiences and adaptors.’ — Suzanne Jones, H-France 20.54, April 2020
‘Harris’s Introduction is essential reading. It provides a nuanced and fine-grained analysis of the two treatments, placing them into the context of the respective authors’ careers and the wider context of eighteenth-century ideas... the volume is a very welcome publication and is sure to be of great interest to a wide audience interested in Molière and his literary posterity.’ — Mark Darlow, Modern Language Review 115.4, October 2020, 917-18 (full text online)

Published December 2022

Published March 2023

‘Mercier was a highly experienced playwright, and his adaptations offer readers a chance both to see Shakespeare through Mercier’s eyes and to appreciate Mercier’s own understanding of national culture, dramatic heroes, stagecraft, and the French Revolution. It is all the easier for readers to do this in Harris’s edition, which includes a wealth of helpful footnotes and a well-judged introduction that touches upon many important points without overwhelming the reader.’ — James Harriman-Smith, Journal for Eighteenth-Century Studies 46.3, 2023, 311-97 (full text online)
‘In the Introduction, Harris locates the two plays within the author’s career, and associates them with the cultural, literary, and political issues of late eighteenth-century France. The Notes register in detail the numerous parallels as well as the differences between Shakespeare’s and Mercier’s plays, thus inviting and generously anticipating the comparative study of both... It is to be hoped that with this new edition of a moving and politically interesting play, Mercier’s Timon d’Athènes, hitherto largely ignored, will re-enter the collective memory of French and English readers.’ — Ina Schabert, Translation and Literature 32, 2023, 379-83 (full text online)

Published April 2024