Making the modern reader

This study offers the first comprehensive account of the early modern anthology, examining both the commercial workings of London's printing business and the rise of professional criticism. It follows how the figure of the reader shifted from a participant in shared literary life into a solitary, inward person whose moral and cultural character was shaped by what they chose to read.

Benedict argues that eighteenth-century anthologies sold readers the idea that culture could be gained simply by taking in literary values. This promise of cultural education attracted a rising middle class eager to judge art with discernment.

By examining a largely overlooked form, the book sheds new light on the tension between popular and high culture, and between the common reader and the elite. It will interest scholars of cultural studies, of non-canonical texts, and of eighteenth-century literature more broadly.