This new edition reproduces the last edition of the novel supervised by Elizabeth Gaskell herself and includes `Two Lectures on the Lancashire Dialect by the Rev. W. Gaskell`.
The Introduction provides historical and biographical context to the novel, a survey of critical responses to Mary Barton , and argues that Gaskell is chiefly concerned with the importance of communication as a means of healing breaches between people.
Up-to-date critical bibliography.
Revised and updated notes.
Appendixes include Gaskell`s rough draft of the novel and her outline of the novel`s conclusion.