Thomas Gray among the Disciplines

<p>Throughout the 250 years that have passed since Thomas Gray’s death he has primarily been celebrated as a poet. This makes sense because although he published relatively little verse he published less – indeed precisely nothing – of his abundant polymathic writing in other fields. His place within the history of scholarship has therefore been obscured. Like many eighteenth-century antiquaries however he shared his learning through correspondence and manuscript circulation and thereby influenced intellectual as well as literary life. This book explores Gray’s scholarship within the changing norms of eighteenth-century disciplines at once locating him within histories of specialisation and examining the ways in which he challenges their narratives. Scholars from across the humanities reveal his methods and global interests and analyse many newly uncovered manuscripts. Offering fresh understanding of broader fields through focused investigation of Gray’s multidisciplinary writings the book will appeal to scholars of eighteenth-century literary intellectual and scientific history.</p>