Robert Kelley

18th, 19th Century Britain

I have taught at Iowa since 1966 in a building whose age matches my tenure in the English Department. I don't know which of us looks better. Most of my pedagogical and scholarly career has been devoted to British literature from 1660 to 1800, with special emphasis on Samuel Johnson and Tobias Smollett, whose Travels Through France and Italy (1766) I am now editing for the University of Georgia Press collected edition of Smollett's works. Lately, I have migrated to a concern with game, play, and sport in literature, particularly the countless novels, stories, plays, and essays about baseball. Students have responded quite favorably to the courses I offer in this area.