Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

‘Before I finally dismiss the subject, I think I may be permitted to observe, that when these volumes first appeared, a work bearing distinctly the title of “Tales,” … and either abruptly commencing with, or breaking suddenly into, a sort of dramatic dialogue, was a novelty in the fictions of the day. Innumerable “Tales” of the same stamp, and adapted in the same manner to all classes and all countries, have since appeared; with many of which I presume not to compete in merit, though I think I may fairly claim priority of design and style.’ With such self-confidence, Harriet Lee (1757–1851) introduced the Standard Novels edition of The Canterbury Tales (1832), a collection of prose stories she originally published with her sister Sophia in five volumes between 1797 and 1805. Both Harriet and Sophia Lee (1750–1824) were successful, versatile, and critically acknowledged novelists and playwrights, whose works were adapted in dramatic form and translated into French and German. Born in London, the daughters of two actors, Margaret and John Lee (who eventually became a theatrical manager at Edinburgh and later Bath theatre), they grew up in an artistic world. After the early death of their mother in 1770, Sophia, as the eldest daughter, overtook the care and education of her five younger siblings. In 1780, her first play, the sentimental comedy The Chapter of Accidents (1780), starring ... log in or subscribe to read full text