The diary of an influential London dandy and socialite, published posthumously from 1856 to 1857 in four volumes.

Discipline, the second novel by the Scottish writer Mary Brunton (1778-1818), was published in 1814. While less well known than its predecessor Self-Control (1811), it is nonetheless equally deserving of a central place in the canon of Romantic-era fiction. A wide-ranging novel, it shares many themes with contemporary fiction such as women’s difficulties in earning money and the horror of being falsely imprisoned in an insane asylum. However, it is Discipline’s innovative attempt at psychological realism that sets it apart from its contemporaries. Through the moral growth of its heroine Ellen Percy, Discipline insists on women’s self-determination, and their ability to become rational agents in a world that treats them as objects merely of desire or contempt. This edition is edited by Olivia Murphy who has added careful editorial notes and an insightful new introduction to the text.

A modern critical biography of Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818), until now neglected as a cultural figure. This is the first study to consider all of Lewis's works and their connections to his personal and public life.

“One of the most satisfying biographies of an English king: it is ample, convincing and well written”—from the acclaimed author of The House of Medici (The Times Literary Supplement). Christopher Hibbert delivers a superbly detailed picture of the life and times of George IV including his exorbitant spending on his homes, his clothes, and his women; his patronage of the arts; his “illegal” marriage to Catholic Mrs. Fitzherbert, and lesser known facts such as his generous charity donations and his witty one-liners, including one he uttered when he met his bride-to-be (Caroline of Brunswick) for the first time: “Harris, I am not well, fetch me a brandy.” George IV was the son of George III (who went insane and inspired The Madness of King George) and was the founder of the prestigious King’s College in London. “A delight to read . . . an enormously enjoyable and skillful portrait.” —Philip Ziegler, The Spectator “Christopher Hibbert’s George IV is at once soundly based on research in the Royal Archives at Windsor and a rollicking good read. I found it invaluable when I was researching The Unruly Queen, my life of George IV’s wife, Queen Caroline, and I recommend it to anyone interested by George IV’s flamboyant and outrageous personality.” —Flora Fraser, author of Flora Macdonald: “Pretty Young Rebel”

This engrossing biography of George IV, king of England from 1820 to 1830, gives a full and objective reassessment of the monarch’s character, reputation, and achievement. Previous writers have tended to accept the unfavorable verdicts of the king’s contemporaries that he was a dissolute, pleasure-loving dilettante and a feeble and ineffective ruler who was responsible for the decline of the power and reputation of the monarchy in the early nineteenth century. Now E.A. Smith offers a new view of George IV, one that does not minimize the king’s faults but focuses on the positive qualities of his achievement in politics and in the patronage of the arts. Smith explores the roots of the king’s character and personality, stressing the importance of his relationship with his parents and twelve surviving siblings. He examines the king’s important contributions to the cultural enhancement of his capital and his encouragement of the major artistic, literary, and scholarly figures of his time. He reassesses the king’s role as constitutional monarch, contending that it was he, rather than Victoria and Albert, who created the constitutional monarchy of nineteenth-century Britain and began the revival of its popularity. Smith’s biography not only illuminates the character of one of the most colorful of Britain’s rulers but also contributes to the history of the British monarchy and its role in the nation’s life.