Exploratory, investigative, and energetically analytical, 1650–1850 covers the full expanse of long-eighteenth-century thought, writing, and art while delivering abundant revelatory detail. Essays on well-known cultural figures combine with studies of emerging topics to unveil a vivid rendering of a dynamic period, simultaneously committed to singular genius and universal improvement. Welcoming research on all nations and language traditions, 1650–1850 invites readers into a truly global Enlightenment. The contributors to volume 31 join with Enlightenment thinkers in charting the outposts of long eighteenth-century culture while discovering new features in seemingly familiar terrain. Essays explore outlandish but often observed activities such as medical quackery, Rosicrucian hermeticism, and the oral antics associated with the twisted “Malaprop” tradition. In happy contrast, the volume offers the second half of a sparkling special feature on the most familiar of all substances, water. Contributors lead us through an astounding assortment of aqueous topics, from the heritage of The Compleat Angler to the sanctified sprinklings of holy water. As always, 1650–1850 culminates in a bevy of full-length book reviews that robustly address the latest scholarship on long-established specialties, unusual subjects, and broad reevaluations of the period. Published by Bucknell University Press. Distributed worldwide by Rutgers University Press. ISSN: 1065-3112