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Anne of Green Gables (W.W. Norton and Company, 2007)

This edition of Anne of Green Gables, edited by Mary Henley Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston, was published as a Norton Critical Edition (as a trade paperback) by W.W. Norton and Company in January 2007. It features the original published text, the eight original illustrations by M.A. and W.A.J. Claus, and a number of supplementary texts, including a chronology, a selected bibliography, life writing by L.M. Montgomery, early reviews from Canadian, American, and British sources, as well as excerpts from critical and contextual essays by a number of scholars, including Gabriella Åhmansson, Margaret Atwood, Virginia Careless, Frank Davey, Cecily Devereux, Elizabeth R. Epperly, Carole Gerson, Marah Gubar, Rosemary Ross Johnston, Clarence Karr, T.D. MacLulich, Juliet McMaster, Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Mary Henley Rubio, Carol Shields, Calvin Trillin, Elizabeth Waterston, and Kate Wood.

From the Back Cover

Since its publication in 1908, Anne of Green Gables has been an enduring best seller and arguably Canada’s most famous novel. This Norton Critical Edition is based on the first edition, published in 1908 by the L.C. Page Company of Boston, and features the eight original illustrations. In additions, the volume offers an unrivaled selection of biographical, contextual, and critical materials judiciously selected by leading Montgomery scholars Mary Henley Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston.

“Backgrounds” begins with eleven relevant excerpts from Montgomery’s juvenilia and backgrounds. It presents the novel’s literary context through selections from Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Caroline Oliphant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Louisa May Alcott, among others. It explores the cultural context through writings by Carole Gerson, Kate Wood, and Mary Henley Rubio.

“Criticism” brings together early reviews and responses as well as modern critical interpretations. The eight early reviews (1908–42) are from Canadian, American, and British sources. The fifteen more-recent essays are by Northrop Frye, Elizabeth R. Epperly, Marah Gubar, Cecily Devereux, Gabriella Åhmansson, Frank Davey, T.D. MacLulich, Virginia Careless, Juliet McMaster, Rosemary Ross Johnston, Elizabeth Waterston, Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Calvin Trillin, Carol Shields, and Margaret Atwood.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

Contents

Preface / Mary Henley Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston (vii–ix)

Acknowledgments (xi–xiii)

The Text of Anne of Green Gables (1–246)

A Note on the Text (247–60)

Manuscript Additions (261–67)

Backgrounds

Journals, Juvenilia, and Related Writings

Journal Entry (1889) (271)

A Girl’s Place at Dalhousie College (1896) (272–75)

Journal Entry (1901) (275–76)

The Strike at Putney (1903) (276–82)

Journal Entry (1905) (283)

Journal Entry (1907) (283–85)

Journal Entry (1910) (285–86)

Journal Entry (1911) (287–90)

Journal Entry (1914) (291)

I Dwell Among My Own People (c. 1920–21) (291–92)

Journal Entry (1930) (292–93)

Literary Context

The Holy Bible (295)

John Morrison, from “The Race That Long in Darkness Pined” (296)

Sir Walter Scott, from “Marmion” (296–97)

Lord Byron, from “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage” (297)

Caroline Oliphant, Baroness Nairne, from “The Maiden’s Vow” (297)

William Cullen Bryant, “Song of the Greek Amazon” (298)

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Hymn to Night” (299)

Caroline Norton, from “Bingen on the Rhine” (300)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, from “Tears, Idle Tears” (300)

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, from “Lancelot and Elaine” (301–2)

Louisa May Alcott, from “Little Women” (302–3)

Kate Douglas Wiggin, from “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (303)

Clarence Karr, “Addicted to Books” (304–8)

Cultural Context

Carole Gerson, “Author, Publisher, and Fictional Character” (309–16)

Kate Wood, “In the News” (316–23)

Mary Henley Rubio, “Scottish-Presbyterian Agency” (324–32)

Criticism

Early Reviews and Responses

New York Times: A Heroine from an Asylum (1908) (335)

Globe: [Sunshine and Shadow] (1908) (336–37)

Spectator: [Winning Our Sympathies] (1908) (337–38)

Daily Patriot: [Favourably Received in the Old World] (1909) (338)

English-Canadian Literature: [Sudden Spring to Fame] (1913) (339)

Head-Waters of Canadian Literature: [Just Missed] (1924) (339–40)

Poteen: [Sugary Stories] (1926) (340)

Peterborough Examiner: [Happiness of an Inoffensive Sort] (1942) (340–41)

Modern Critical Views

Northrop Frye, “The Pastoral Myth” (343)

Elizabeth R. Epperly, “Romancing the Voice: Anne of Green Gables” (343–59)

Marah Gubar, “The Pleasures of Postponement” (359–65)

Cecily Devereux, “The Culture of Imperial Motherhood” (365–70)

Gabriella Åhmansson, “Lying and the Imagination” (370–81)

Frank Davey, “Ambiguity and Anxiety in Anne of Green Gables” (381–85)

T.D. MacLulich, “L.M. Montgomery and the Literary Heroine: Jo, Rebecca, Anne, and Emily” (386–94)

Virginia Careless, “L.M. Montgomery and Everybody Else” (395–402)

Juliet McMaster, “Hair Red, Black, Gold, and Nut-Brown” (402–9)

Rosemary Ross Johnston, “L.M. Montgomery’s Interior/Exterior Landscapes” (409–13)

Elizabeth Waterston, “To the World of Story” (413–21)

Catherine Sheldrick Ross, “Readers Reading L.M. Montgomery” (421–27)

Calvin Trillin, “What Do the Japanese See in Anne of Green Gables?” (427)

Carol Shields, “Exuberant Vision” (428)

Margaret Atwood, “Revisiting Anne” (428)

Lucy Maud Montgomery: A Chronology (427–35)

Selected Bibliography (437–45)

Reviews

Review by Carole Gerson.

Metadata

Editors: Mary Henley Rubio and Elizabeth Waterston
Country: USA
Publisher: W.W. Norton and Company
Date: 2007
Format: Trade paperback
Trim: 5 1/4 x 8 1/4
Pagination: xiii + 445 pp.
ISBN: 9780393926958
Series: A Norton Critical Edition


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