Literary Transmission and Authority

Dryden defined himself as a writer in relation to other writers and in doing so was something of a pioneer professional man of letters. This book looks at Dryden''s literary relationships with Ben Jonson and with French authors (notably Corneille); at issues raised by the work thought to be his greatest by Romantic and contemporary readers Fables Ancient and Modern; and at Samuel Johnson''s Life of Dryden. This book has implications for questions of literary reception influence and intertextuality as well as for the reputation and context of Dryden himself.