Selling calls in London: An Anthology of British Essays

Author: (English) Addison et al
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-11-01
Features: The cover of the book is a copperplate print depicting a London scene, with horse-drawn carriages as the mode of transportation, Big Ben, a gray sky, and a few floating clouds. The book includes the essays of fourteen writers from Addison and Steele to Woolf over two hundred years. Each author is preceded by an introduction written by the translator, highlighting the author's background and the characteristics of their works. From the immortal chapters of English prose, thirty-one selections are chosen from the pens of fourteen authors from the 18th to the 20th centuries. They vividly reflect the authors' unique calm and rich sentiments, as well as their humorous and slightly satirical tone. The title is inspired by an 18th-century essay by Addison, which humorously describes the urban scenes and customs of the time, such as newspaper vendors, sweet snack sellers, and fire stations. The book features Lamb as a representative 19th-century writer, whose works document his life as a busy clerk and the bittersweet joy and imagination he found in daily life. Here, there is also Virginia Woolf's work, who, while pioneering stream-of-consciousness novels, wrote with a light and playful prose style, expressing her deep love and impressions of literature, becoming a rare gem in 20th-century English prose.