This Norton Critical Edition includes:
- The 1874 corrected edition of the text, with small textual variations from Eliot's manuscript.
- Introductory materials and explanatory footnotes by Ronjaunee Chatterjee.
- Twenty-three background selections from Eliot's correspondence, journals, and other writings.
- Seventeen critical responses, including five contemporary reactions and twelve critical analyses of the novel's most important themes.
- A chronology of Eliot's life and a selected bibliography.