Background
Sher, Richard B. was born on March 29, 1948 in Newark.
(Since its original publication in 1985, Church and Univer...)
Since its original publication in 1985, Church and University in the Scottish Enlightenment has come to be regarded as a classic work in eighteenth-century Scottish history and Enlightenment studies. It depicts Hugh Blair, Alexander Carlyle, Adam Ferguson, John Home, and William Robertson as an intimate coterie that played a central role in the Scottish Enlightenment, seen here not only as an intellectual but as a cultural movement. These men were among the leaders in the University of Edinburgh, in the Moderate party in the Church of Scotland, and in Edinburgh's thriving clubs. They used their institutional influence and their books, plays, sermons, and pamphlets to promulgate the tenets of Moderatism, including polite Presbyterianism, Christian Stoicism, civic humanism, social and political conservatism, and the tolerant, cosmopolitan values of the international Enlightenment. Using a wide variety of sources and an interdisciplinary methodology, this collective biography portrays these "Moderate literati" as zealous activists for the cause in which they believed, ranging from support for a Scots militia, Ossian, and Roman Catholic relief to opposition to the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 and the American and French Revolutions. The Edinburgh Classic Editions series publishes influential works from the archive in context for a contemporary audience. These works shifted boundaries on first publication and are considered essential groundings in their disciplines. New introductions from contemporary scholars explain the cultural and intellectual heritage of these classic editions to a new generation of readers.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1474407439/?tag=2022091-20
( The Description for this book, Church and University in...)
The Description for this book, Church and University in the Scottish Enlightenment: The Moderate Literati of Edinburgh, will be forthcoming.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691054452/?tag=2022091-20
( The late eighteenth century witnessed an explosion of i...)
The late eighteenth century witnessed an explosion of intellectual activity in Scotland by such luminaries as David Hume, Adam Smith, Hugh Blair, William Robertson, Adam Ferguson, James Boswell, and Robert Burns. And the books written by these seminal thinkers made a significant mark during their time in almost every field of polite literature and higher learning throughout Britain, Europe, and the Americas. In this magisterial history, Richard B. Sher breaks new ground for our understanding of the Enlightenment and the forgotten role of publishing during that period. The Enlightenment and the Book seeks to remedy the common misperception that such classics as The Wealth of Nations and The Life of Samuel Johnson were written by authors who eyed their publishers as minor functionaries in their profession. To the contrary, Sher shows how the process of bookmaking during the late eighteenth-century involved a deeply complex partnership between authors and their publishers, one in which writers saw the book industry not only as pivotal in the dissemination of their ideas, but also as crucial to their dreams of fame and monetary gain. Similarly, Sher demonstrates that publishers were involved in the project of bookmaking in order to advance human knowledge as well as to accumulate profits. The Enlightenment and the Book explores this tension between creativity and commerce that still exists in scholarly publishing today. Lavishly illustrated and elegantly conceived, it will be must reading for anyone interested in the history of the book or the production and diffusion of Enlightenment thought.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226752534/?tag=2022091-20
Sher, Richard B. was born on March 29, 1948 in Newark.
Bachelor, George Washington University, 1970; Master of Arts, University of Chicago, 1971; Doctor of Philosophy, University of Chicago, 1979.
Special lecturer New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, 1979-1985, assistant professor history, 1985-1986, associate professor history, 1986-1992, professor history, 1992-2000, distinguished professor history, since 2000, associate dean college science and liberal arts, director honors program, 1985-1991, chair department history, since 1999. Member graduate faculty Rutgers University, since 1991. Visiting professor New York University, 1982.
With graduate faculty Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, since 2000.
(This new paperback introduces the "moderate literati of E...)
( The late eighteenth century witnessed an explosion of i...)
(Since its original publication in 1985, Church and Univer...)
( The Description for this book, Church and University in...)
(This text presents the selected proceedings of a conferen...)
Fellow Royal Hist.Soc., Guggenhein. Member Eighteenth Century Scottish Studies Society (executive secretary since 1986).
Married Doris S. Holstein, January 4, 1977. 1 child, Jeremy.