The Republic of Letters

For the 17th- and 18th-century intellectual community, seeRepublic of Letters.

The Republic of Letterswas a publishing endeavor byGeorge Routledge& Sons in the mid-1920s in London. Edited byWilliam Rose,this series of books focused on interesting and significant poets, dramatists and novelists.In addition to containing biographical information, the books also included psychological and social background information of the writer's own time. Certain volumes includeVoltairebyRichard Aldington,Pushkinby PrinceD.S. Mirsky,andGogolbyJanko Lavrin.

Herbert ReadandT. S. Eliotwere both asked to contribute by Aldington, who himself had been approached byRoutledgein 1923, but both initially refused. Eliot himself initiated a similar endeavour atFaber & Gwyer(where at the time he was a director) called "The Poets on The Poets". Eventually, after consultation with Aldington, Routledge and Eliot chose to combine their two efforts, under the joint imprint of both publishers, with Eliot and Rose as joint editors.