The Critical Heritage gathers together a large body of critical sources on major figures in literature. Each volume presents contemporary responses to a writer's work, enabling student and researcher to read the material themselves.

General Editor’s Preface; Preface; Abbreviations; intro101 Introduction, Mark Storey; Part 1 The Early Days; Chapter 1 John Clare apologizes, John Clare; Chapter 2 John Clare addresses the public, John Clare; Chapter 3 John Clare on his hopes of success, John Clare; Chapter 4 The problem of the ‘Dedication’ to Poems Descriptive; Chapter 5 Words of Warning, Edward Drury, John Taylor; Chapter 6 Octavius Gilchrist introduces Clare to the literary world, Octavius Gilchrist; Part 2 Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery; Chapter 7 Introduction to Poems Descriptive, John Taylor; Chapter 8 From an unsigned review, New Times; Chapter 9 Octavius Gilchrist on Poems Descriptive, Octavius Gilchrist; Chapter 10 Tributes in verse; Chapter 11 Advice on alterations and omissions; Chapter 12 Eliza Emmerson on her admiration of ‘Nature s Child’, Eliza Emmerson; Chapter 13 Charles Mossop on the source of Clare’s success, Charles Mossop; Chapter 14 From an unsigned review, New Monthly Magazine; Chapter 15 From an unsigned review, Monthly Review; Chapter 16 Unsigned notice, Monthly Magazine; Chapter 17 John Scott, from an unsigned review, London Magazine, John Scott; Chapter 18 John Clare and the Morning Post; Chapter 19 Eliza Emmerson on the certainty of ultimate success, Eliza Emmerson; Chapter 20 An enquirer after Clare’s welfare; Chapter 21 Eliza Emmerson on critical reactions, Eliza Emmerson; Chapter 22 Octavius Gilchrist on having to write another article on Clare, Octavius Gilchrist; Chapter 23 From an unsigned review, Eclectic Review; Chapter 24 James Plumptre on rural poetry according to Part icular principles, James Plumptre; Chapter 25 From an unsigned review, Quarterly, Octavius Gilchrist; Chapter 26 Unsigned article, Guardian; Chapter 27 J.G.Lockhart on Clare, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, J.G. Lockhart; Chapter 28 From an unsigned review, British Critic, Octavius Gilchrist; Chapter 29 From an unsigned review, Antijacobin Review, Octavius Gilchrist; Chapter 30 Robert Bloomfield on the pleasure afforded him by Clare’s poems, Robert Bloomfield; Chapter 31 An admirer comments on Clare’s poetry; Chapter 32 Eliza Emmerson on reactions in Bristol, Eliza Emmerson; Chapter 33 Edward Drury on the poems people like, Edward Drury; Chapter 34 Clare and ‘Native Genius’; Chapter 35 Some brief comments on Clare; Part 3 The Period Prior to Publication of the Village Minstrel: Incidental Comments; Chapter 36 Some opinions on ‘Solitude’; Chapter 37 John Taylor on narrative poetry, John Taylor; Chapter 38 Edward Drury with some good advice, Edward Drury; Chapter 39 John Taylor on the next volume, John Taylor; Chapter 40 Edward Drury on the songs, Edward Drury; Chapter 41 John Clare and C.H.Townsend on plagiarism, John Clare, C.H. Townsend; Chapter 42 John Clare on the judgments of others, John Clare; Chapter 43 More advice from Eliza Emmerson, Eliza Emmerson; Chapter 44 John Clare on one of his poems, John Clare; Chapter 45 John Taylor on Clare’s good taste, John Taylor; Chapter 46 John Taylxor on true poetry, John Taylor; Chapter 47 Edward Drury on ‘The Last of Autumn’, Edward Drury; Chapter 48 Some opinions on ‘The Peasant Boy’; Chapter 49 John Taylor on the prospects of success, John Taylor; Chapter 50 Comments on ‘prettiness’ in poetry; Chapter 51 Comments in anticipation of the new volume; Part 4 The Village Minstrel; Chapter 52 John Taylor, from the Introduction to The Village Minstrel, John Taylor; Chapter 53 John Clare on popularity, John Clare; Chapter 54 From an unsigned review, Literary Gazette; Chapter 55 Two views of Clare, Literary Chronicle; Chapter 56 From an unsigned review, Monthly Magazine; Chapter 57 John Taylor on Clare, London Magazine, John Taylor; Chapter 58 From an unsigned review, European Magazine; Chapter 59 Unsigned review, New Monthly Magazine; Chapter 60 From an unsigned review, Eclectic Review; Chapter 61 C.H. Townsend on The Village Minstrel, C.H. Townsend; Chapter 62 John Clare on the disappointing response, John Clare; Chapter 63 . An admirer on The Village Minstrel; Chapter 64 Charles Lamb on the ‘true rustic style’, Charles Lamb; Chapter 65 The Rev. W. Allen on Clare, W. Allen Rev.; Chapter 66 John Clare on the neglect of true genius, John Clare; Chapter 67 Charles Abraham Elton, ‘The Idler’s Epistle to John Clare’, Charles Abraham Elton; Part 5 The Period Prior to Publication of The Shepherd’s Calendar: Incidental Comments; Chapter 68 Eliza Emmerson comments on ‘Superstition’s Dream’, Eliza Emmerson; Chapter 69 Octavius Gilchrist on a magazine poem by Clare, Octavius Gilchrist; Chapter 70 John Clare on inspiration and isolation, John Clare; Chapter 71 John Taylor on the need to avoid vulgarity, John Taylor; Chapter 72 Some comments on ‘The Parish’; Chapter 73 Two brief comments on a sonnet by ‘Percy Green’; Chapter 74 James Hessey on The Shepherd’s Calendar, James Hessey; Chapter 75 H.F. Cary on The Shepherd’s Calendar, H.F. Cary; Chapter 76 John Taylor on The Shepherd’s Calendar, John Taylor; Chapter 77 A ‘chorus of praise’ for Clare; Chapter 78 Eliza Emmerson on Clare, Eliza Emmerson; Part 6 The Shepherd’s Calendar; Chapter 79 John Clare, the Preface to The Shepherd’s Calender, John Clare; Chapter 80 Unsigned notice, Literary Gazette; Chapter 81 Josiah Conder, unsigned review, Eclectic Review; Chapter 82 Unsigned notice, London Weekly Review; Chapter 83 Unsigned review, Literary Chronicle; Part 7 The Period Prior to Publication of the Rural Muse: Incidental Comments; Chapter 84 Some comments on ‘Autumn’ and ‘Summer Images’; Chapter 85 Thomas Pringle on Clare and fashion, Thomas Pringle; Chapter 86 John Clare and George Darley on action in poetry, John Clare, George Darley; Chapter 87 Derwent Coleridge on Clare, Derwent Coleridge; Chapter 88 Some practical advice; Chapter 89 John Clare on Southey’s view of uneducated poets, John Clare; Chapter 90 Thomas Crossley, a sonnet to Clare, Thomas Crossley; Chapter 91 John Clare on ambition and independence, John Clare; Chapter 92 Two reactions to ‘The Nightingale’s Nest’; Part 8 The Rural Muse; Chapter 93 John Clare, the Preface to The Rural Muse, John Clare; Chapter 94 Unsigned notice, Athenaeum; Chapter 95 Unsigned notice, Literary Gazette; Chapter 96 John Wilson, unsigned review, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, John Wilson; Chapter 97 Two readers on The Rural Muse; Chapter 98 Unsigned notice, New Monthly Magazine; Chapter 99 Unsigned review, Druids’ Monthly Magazine; Part 9 The Asylum Years; Chapter 100 Thomas De Quincey on Clare, Thomas De Quincey; Cyrus Redding visits John Clare; Chapter 102 Edwin Paxton Hood on Clare, Edwin Paxton Hood; Chapter 103 AClare in passing; Chapter 105 John Plummer on a forgotten poet, John Plummer; Part 10 Obituaries and Lives; Chapter 106 John Askham on Clare, John Askham; Chapter 107 John Dalby, a poem on Clare, John Dalby; Chapter 108 John Plummer, again, on Clare, John Plummer; Chapter 109 Spencer T. Hall on Clare and Bloomfield, Spencer T. Hall; Chapter 110 A female audience for John Clare; Chapter 111 An American view of a peasant poet; Chapter 112 The doomed poet; Chapter 113 From some reviews of Cherry’s Life and Remains; Chapter 114 Clare and the soul of the people; Part 11 The Period 1874–1920; Chapter 115 Some late nineteenth-century views of Clare; Chapter 116 Norman Gale, a rhapsodic view, Norman Gale; Chapter 117 Arthur Symons on Clare, Arthur Symons; Chapter 118 The distinction between early and late Clare; Chapter 119 Clare as a poet of greatness; Chapter 120 Edward Thomas on Clare, Edward Thomas; Part 12 The Period 1920–35; Chapter 121 Alan Porter, a violent view, Alan Porter; Chapter 122 Samuel Looker on Clare’s genius, Samuel Looker; Chapter 123 J.C. Squire, with reservations, J.C. Squire; Chapter 124 H.J. Massingham on Clare’s uniqueness, H.J. Massingham; Chapter 125 J. Middleton Murry, an enthusiastic view, J. Middleton Murry; Chapter 126 Robert Lynd on Clare and Mr Hudson, Robert Lynd; Chapter 127 Edmund Gosse, a dissentient view, Edmund Gosse; Chapter 128 Clare and Keats; Chapter 129 Maurice Hewlett on Clare’s derivations, Maurice Hewlett; Chapter 130 Maurice Hewlett on Clare as peasant poet (again), Maurice Hewlett; Chapter 131 J. Middleton Murry on Clare and Wordsworth, J. Middleton Murry; Chapter 132 Alan Porter on a book of the moment, Alan Porter; Chapter 133 Percy Lubbock, a hesitant view, Percy Lubbock; Chapter 134 Edmund Gosse, again, Edmund Gosse; Chapter 135 Edmund Blunden on Clare, Edmund Blunden; Part 13 The Period 1935–64; Chapter 136 Clare’s dream; Chapter 137 John Speirs on Clare’s limitations, John Speirs; Chapter 138 H.J. Massingham on the labourer poets, H.J. Massingham; Chapter 139 W.K.Richmond on Clare, W.K. Richmond; Chapter 140 Geoffrey Grigson on Clare, Geoffrey Grigson; Chapter 141 Robert Graves on Clare as a true poet, Robert Graves; Chapter 142 Clare as an intruder into the canon; Chapter 143 Clare as a lyric poet; Chapter 144 More doubts about Clare; Chapter 145 Harold Bloom on Clare, Harold Bloom; Chapter 146 Some centenary comments;