Selected Prose of John Dryden

Matthew Arnold praised Dryden's poetry for inaugurating an age of prose; what he might better have appreciated is Dryden's creation of modern prose itself. This is the only stand-alone edition of Dryden's prose available; it introduces and annotates texts that honour the orthography and accidentals of first and early editions, distilling earlier commentary and presenting fresh interpretations of his work. The clarity, nuance, and ease of Dryden's voice in prose distinguish his writing from the first pages of The Essay of Dramatick Poesie to the beautiful cadences of the Preface to Fables at the end of his career. Dryden's poetry and drama are widely available and appreciated, yet his prose has been difficult of access. That writing, its many pleasures, and its importance in creating the prose of the modern world are here restored to view for contemporary readers.

Introducing Dryden's prose; Collecting Dryden's prose; Note on the text; Chronology; 1. Ancients and Moderns; 2. Courting and Caressing; 3. A Life in the Theatre; 4. Translation: Mastering his Author's Language and his Own; 5. Among his Readers; The Thread of my Discourse; Commentary and notes.