First published in 1979, this collection of thirty-three essays on the novel drawn from thirteen periodicals demonstrates the primary concerns of those discussing the nature and purpose of prose fiction in the period from 1851 to 1869. The essays reflect what was thought and said about the art of fiction and reveal what journalists of these periodicals thought were the most urgent critical concerns facing the working reviewer. This volume includes work by major mid-century reviewers such as David Masson, George Henry Lewes, Walter Bagehot, William Caldwell Roscoe, Richard Holt Hutton and Leslie Stephen.

Including an introduction which assesses the issues raised by the best periodicals at the time, this anthology is designed to provide students of Victorian fiction and critical theory with a collection of essays on the art of fiction in a convenient and durable form.