A Preface to Pope

This text offers a biographical and intellectual portrait of the poet Alexander Pope. This edition has been substantially rewritten. The author has taken into account the Pope scholarship and criticism published since the last edition in 1976, in particular, Maynard Mack’s life of Pope. In Part One, which places Pope in his own time and attempts to give the reader a sense of the historical, intellectual and cultural climate in which his poetry developed, each chapter has been updated and references have been provided. The most substantial additions are to Part Two where the author has included short introductory essays to a selection of Pope’s major poems. The poems have been chosen to represent the range of Pope’s achievement and the development of his art. The third part is a reference section intended as a tool to help readers with contemporary persons and places in Pope’s poetry.