This important new book explores epistolary forms and practices in relation to important areas of British culture. Familiar ideas about epistolary fiction and personal correspondence, and public and private, are re-examined in the light of alternative paradigms, showing how the letter is a genre at the centre of Eighteenth-century life.

CLARE BRANT is a Senior Lecturer in English at King's College London, UK. She has previously held posts at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. She has co-edited three essay collections and published numerous articles on eighteenth-century literature and culture.