The Song of the Lark

Scholarly Edition

Willa Cather

Historical Essay and Explanatory Notes by Ann Moseley

Textual Essay and Editing by Kari A. Ronning

Willa Cather Scholarly Edition Series

976 pages
41 illustrations, 5 maps

Hardcover

October 2012

978-0-8032-1402-6

$75.00 Add to Cart

eBook (PDF)

(Requires Adobe Digital Editions)

October 2012

978-0-8032-4472-6

$75.00 Add to Cart

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About the Book

Willa Cather’s third novel, The Song of the Lark, depicts the growth of an artist, singer Thea Kronborg, a character inspired by the Swedish-born immigrant and renowned Wagnerian soprano Olive Fremstad. Thea’s early life, however, has much in common with Cather’s own.

Set from 1885 to 1909, the novel traces Thea’s long journey from her fictional hometown of Moonstone, Colorado, to her source of inspiration in the Southwest, and to New York and the Metropolitan Opera House. As she makes her way in the world from an unlikely background, Thea distills all her experiences and relationships into the power and passion of her singing, despite the cost. The Song of the Lark presents Cather’s vision of a true artist.

The Willa Cather Scholarly Edition includes a historical essay providing fresh insight into the novel and Cather's writing process, photographs and maps, and explanatory notes providing a full range of biographical and historical information. The novel, edited according to standards set by the Committee on Scholarly Editions of the Modern Language Association, presents a clean, authoritative text of the first edition.

Author Bio

Ann Moseley is William L. Mayo Professor and Professor of Literature and Languages Emerita at Texas A&M University–Commerce. Kari A. Ronning is a research associate professor of English, textual editor of the Willa Cather Scholarly Edition series, and codirector of the Willa Cather Journalism project at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Praise

"Embellished with handsome photographs and presented in an easy-to-read format, this is a necessary edition for any scholar of Cather."—N. Birns, Choice

Preface

The Song of the Lark

Acknowledgments

Historical Apparatus:

Historical Essay

Preface to the 1932 Jonathan Cape Edition

Illustrations

Explanatory Notes

Textual Apparatus:

Textual Essay

Emendations

Notes on Emendations

Table of Rejected Substantives

Word Division

Also of Interest

Shadows on the Rock

Willa Cather
Historical essay by John J. Murphy and David Stouck
Explanatory notes by John J. Murphy and David Stouck
Textual editing by Frederick M. Link

My Ántonia

Willa Cather
With illustrations by W. T. Benda
Edited by Charles Mignon with Kari A. Ronning
Historical Essay by James Woodress
Contributions by Kari Ronning, Kathleen Danker, and Emily Levine