This new edition of Jonathan Swift's classic is based on the 1726 text - the edition textual scholars now consider the most authoritative. It is accompanied by detailed explanatory annotations. ''Context'' collects materials that influenced Swift's writing of the novel, as well as documents that suggest its initial reception, including Swift's correspondence, Alexander Pope's peoms on ''Gulliver's Travels'' and relevant passages from ''Gargantua and Pantagruel''. ''Criticism'' includes 14 assessments of ''Gulliver's Travels'' by the Earl of Orrery, Sir Walter Scott, Pat Rogers, Michael McKeon, J.A. Downie, J. Paul Hunter, Laura Brown, Douglas Lane Patey, Dennis Todd, Richard H. Rodino, Irvin Ehrenpreis, Janine Barchas, Claude Rawson and Howard D. Weinbrot. A chronology and selected bibliography are included.