Following Northrop Frye’s death in 1991, a large archive of his correspondence, unpublished criticism, and notebooks was deposited with the Victoria University Library at the University of Toronto. This collection of essays, written by a distinguished group of Frye experts, begins the process of reassessing Frye’s thought and writings in light of the extraordinary material contained in this archive.

The eight essays included here illuminate in new and significant ways both Frye’s critical theories and their philosophical underpinnings. They show that Frye’s was a many-sided and yet strikingly consistent process of meditation that was not fully reflected in his published works, for all their adventurous scope and brilliance.

This impressive collection highlights the continuing relevance of Frye’s ideas and gives a broader sense of his writing and his achievement.