This authoritative, accurate text of the first edition (1868—69) of Little Women is accompanied by textual variants and thorough explanatory annotations.     "Backgrounds and Contexts" includes a wealth of archival materials, among them previously unpublished correspondence with Thomas Niles and Alcott's own precursors to Little Women.     "Criticism" reprints twenty nineteenth-century reviews. Seven modern essays represent a variety of critical theories used to read and study the novel, including feminist (Catharine R. Stimpson, Elizabeth Keyser), new historicist (Richard H. Brodhead), psychoanalytic (Angela M. Estes and Kathleen Margaret Lant), and reader-response (Elizabeth Vincent) .     A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.     About the series: No other series of classic texts equals the caliber of the Norton Critical Editions. Each volume combines the most authoritative text available with the comprehensive pedagogical apparatus necessary to appreciate the work fully. Careful editing, first-rate translation, and thorough explanatory annotations allow each text to meet the highest literary standards while remaining accessible to students. Each edition is printed on acid-free paper and every text in the series remains in print. Norton Critical Editions are the choice for excellence in scholarship for students at more than 2,000 universities worldwide.     About the Author     Anne K. Phillips is Associate Professor of English at Kansas State University where she teaches Children's Literature and American Literature. She is co-author of Resources for Teaching the Bedford Introduction to Literature and co-editor of the annual Children's Literature 21. With Gregory Eiselein, she co-edited The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia. Gregory Eiselein is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in English, where he teaches American Literature. He is the author of Literature and Humanitarian Reform in the Civil War Era and editor of Emma Lazarus: Selected Writings and Adah Isaacs Menken: Infelicia and Other Writings. With Anne K. Phillips, he co-edited The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia.