The Man of Feeling

by Henry Mackenzie

Overview

Mackenzie's hugely popular novel of 1771 is the foremost work of the sentimental movement, in which sentiment and sensibility were allied with true virtue, and sensitivity is the mark of the man of feeling. The hero, Harley, is followed in a series of episodes demonstrating his benevolence in an uncaring world: he assists the down-trodden, loses his love, and fails to achieve worldly success. The novel asks a series of vital questions: what morality is possible in a complex commercial world? Does trying to maintain it make you a saint or a fool? Is sentiment merely a luxury for the leisured classes?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781458707628
Publisher:	ReadHowYouWant
Publication date:	01/01/2006
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	166 KB

About the Author

Maureen Harkin is an Associate Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College, Portland, Oregon. She specializes in eighteenth-century literature, particularly the sentimental novel.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Henry Mackenzie: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text

The Man of Feeling

Appendix A: Sympathy and Sentiment

1. From David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature (1739-40)
2. From Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759)
3. From Laurence Sterne, A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy (1768)

Appendix B: Mackenzie’s Correspondence on the Composition and Publication of The Man of Feeling

1. Letters to Elizabeth Rose on the Composition of The Man of Feeling, 1769-70
2. Correspondence with James Elphinston on the Composition and Reception of The Man of Feeling, 1770-71

Appendix C: Other Fiction and Journalism by Mackenzie

1. From Julia de Roubigné (1777)
2. The Mirror, nos. 42-44 (19-26 June 1779): “The Effects of Religion on Minds of Sensibility. The Story of La Roche”
3. The Mirror, no. 101 (25 April 1780): “The Effects of Sentiment and Sensibility on Happiness. From a Guardian”
4. The Lounger, no. 20 (18 June 1785): “On Novel-Writing”
5. The Lounger, no. 90 (21 October 1786): “Letter from Barbara Heartless, the Unfortunate Attendant of a Woman of Extreme Sensibility and Feeling”

Appendix D: Contemporary Reviews and Evaluations

1. The Monthly Review (May 1771)
2. The Critical Review (June 1771)
3. The Scots Magazine (August 1771)
4. The London Magazine (August 1771)
5. Sir Walter Scott, “Henry Mackenzie,” Lives of the Novelists (1823)

Select Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

This is a very welcome and splendidly prepared edition of a text central to European culture in the revolutionary age, and it provides a rich, accessible, and comprehensive context for understanding a hugely popular work that has been strangely neglected in the English curriculum. This edition should return this classic of sentimental literature to the mainstream of English literature.” — Barbara M. Benedict, Trinity College, Connecticut

“Broadview Press’s new edition of The Man of Feeling should now be regarded as the definitive edition of Mackenzie’s genre-defining work. The notes on the text are clear and ample without being intrusive. The supplemental materials are perfectly chosen. And Maureen Harkin’s introduction places Mackenzie’s work in the context of the sentimental mode deftly and efficiently, emphasizing the cultural and literary complexities of the sentimentalism that Mackenzie’s novel typifies. The edition should be extremely useful for students at all levels, as well as for general readers.” — Elizabeth Hedrick, University of Texas at Austin

“It is useful to have a crisp new paperback edition of Henry Mackenzie’s The Man of Feeling, considered by many scholars to be one of the high points of sentimental literature. The utility is increased considerably by the addition of a rich variety of appendices that supplement the text and provide valuable insights into eighteenth-century sentimentalism. All this will help readers to place this important novel in its eighteenth-century context.” — Eighteenth-Century Scotland

From the Publisher