Maynard Mack (1909–2001)

The selections are excellent, but they are fairly Eurocentric. In this volume and edition, there are few selections from Latin America or Africa, and none from Asia. (There is an Asian "companion volume.") Introductory essays are formatted in two columns, and are uneven in value.

The Norton anthologiser Maynard Mack left every Pope fan in his debt with this marvellous biography.
I was just getting into Pope when I came across this book in a used bookstore. I bought it without expecting to enjoy it much; it's a great brick of a thing, and how interesting could his life have been? I stayed up most of the night to finish it, and have reread it several times with pleasure.
Mack gives wonderful context for those unfamiliar with 18th century England, and follows his show more subject's life with great sympathy and acuity. One comes away with a picture of a passionate, intelligent, and lonely man, who used his wit to woo friends and protect himself from the rest of the world. Pope overcame humble birth to become a respected and wealthy man, and somehow wrote a great volume of brilliant and humane poetry despite painful and debilitating health problems. This isn't hagiography, either; I get the feeling that Pope usually earned both his friends and enemies. show less

It claims to be an anthology of world masterpieces, but the works from outside Europe that are included are pieces of the Bible, the Koran and Gilgamesh, and the only works from Eastern Europe are from Ancient Greece. If you're looking for Western literature with few surprises, then this volume does the predictable job of providing a wide array of Western literature, much of it sliced and diced to fit as much variety as possible in 2000 pages. (E.g., of Paradise Lost, the sixth edition has show more book 9, and excerpts from books 1, 10 and 12.) But that is the nature of an anthology trying to cover such a broad field. show less

This is part of a collection from the 1950's and 1960's probably for use as college course material. I've only seen one other piece of the collection, volume 5, The Augustans. These are wonderfully edited and the commentary is excellent. The layout of the works and the references are first rate. From Gerald Manley Hopkins to Phillip Larkin. I've never considered myself a reader of poetry, but this is a nice collection.