Michael Cox: The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature [2004] paperback

Replacing the "Annals of English Literature" (first published by OUP in 1935), the "Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature" presents a chronological record of around 15,000 works published in the English language since 1474. Like its predecessor, the "Annals of English Literature", the purpose of this book is to show, at a glance, the main literary output of a given year. The aim is to display a significant and representative selection of works in relation to the history and culture of the day. The book's primary focus is English literature, understood as works originally written in English by British authors published in Britain, though exceptions have been made for authors born elsewhere (e.g. Henry James) who made their home in Britain, or some colonial authors who published principally with British publishing houses. Though works of the imagination (poetry, short stories, plays, novels) predominate, 'non-literary' works (biographies, memoirs, critical works, historical scholarship, philosophical and religious texts) are also included.
As far as possible, the range of works covered represent all levels of literary output and the greats sit alongside long forgotten gems, the trivial, the inspirational, and the unusual, all worthy of remembrance. The works covered generally fall into the following broad categories: Fiction (novels, novellas, short-story collections, anthologies, selected juvenile fiction); Poetry (individual works, single-author collections, anthologies); Drama; Literary Scholarship (editions of English texts, editions of classical and foreign texts, editions of letters, dictionaries and other reference works, critical studies); and Non-Fiction (essays, travel and exploration, literary memoirs, biographical studies, philosophical and religious works, historiography, economics). Each year shows a selection of titles published. The titles are arranged alphabetically by author surname. Each entry consists of author's names and dates, title, notes giving information of particular interest and cross-references (not included with every title), and category (e.g. NF for non-fiction or D for drama).
At the beginning of each year there is also a short list of historical events and items of cultural interest, births, and deaths. This title is categorized as: What were people writing about around the time of the Reformation? Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) "A Dialogue Concernynge Heresyes and Matters of Religion", Sir Thomas Elyot (1490-1546) "Of the Knowledge whiche Maketh a Wise Man", and John Colet (1467-1519) "The Ordre of a Good Chrysten Mannes Lyfe". How did the English Civil War influence literary output? Robert Chamberlain (1607-60) "The Swaggering Damsell: A comedy", Ralph Cudworth (1617-88) "The Union of Christ and the Church in a Shadow", and Joseph Hall (1574-1656) "An Humble Remonstrance to the High Court of Parliament." What was being read after the French Revolution? Edmund Burke (1729-97) "Reflections on the Revolution in France", Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) "A Vindication of the Rights of Men", and Charlotte Palmer (fl.1790-1800) "It is, and it is not a Novel". To what degree did the Industrial Revolution inspire the writers of that day?
Charles Babbage (1792-1871) "On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures", William Cobbett (1763-1835) "Cobbett's Manchester Lectures", and Gilbert Abbott a Beckett (1811-56) "The Revolt of the Workhouse." What are we reading about now? Helen Fielding (1958) "Bridget Jones's Diary", Ted Hughes (1930-98) "Birthday Letters", Zadie Smith (1975) "White Teeth", and Philip Pullman (1946) "The Amber Spyglass". The main chronology is supplemented by three indexes. An author index allows readers to view the literary output of any given author in chronological order, an index of periodicals gives a short overview of periodicals published during the period covered, and there is also an index of anonymous titles.