The short story originally published as “Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter. Being a Seventh Extract from the Legacy of the Late Francis Purcell, P.P. of Drumcoolagh” in Dublin University Magazine (May 1839) is widely recognized as the earliest masterpiece by the Irish novelist, short story writer, and journalist Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873).

Charlotte Riddell’s The Race for Wealth, first serialized in Once a Week and published in book form in 1866, revolves around two themes: adulteration and adultery. It is both a business novel, exploring the ambiguities of commerce and trade, and a sensational novel, pushing the boundaries of conventionality. Set in eastern London, the novel is replete with topical references to popular culture, contemporaneous urban developments, financial legislation, the history of the City of London and the adulteration debate that was raging at the time. The COVE edition of The Race for Wealth aims to orient readers in this web of allusions, and to provide a nuanced understanding of Riddell’s somewhat eccentric novelistic interests. In addition to lead editors Silvana Colella (University of Macerata) and Frederik Van Dam (Radboud University), the team includes..