Although historical research undertaken in different disciplines often requires speculation and imagination, it remains relatively rare for scholars to foreground these processes explicitly as a knowing method. Historical Research, Creative Writing, and the Past brings together researchers in a wide array of disciplines, including literary studies and history, ethnography, design, film, and sound studies, who employ imagination, creativity, or fiction in their own historical scholarship or who analyze the use of imagination, creativity, or fiction to make historical claims by others. This volume is organized into four topical sections related to representations of the past—textual and conceptual approaches; material and emotional approaches; speculative and experiential approaches; and embodied methodologies—and covers a variety of temporal periods and geographical contexts. Reflecting on the methodological, theoretical, and ethical underpinnings of writing history creatively or speculatively, the essays situate themselves within current debates over epistemology and interdisciplinarity. They yield new insights into historical research methods, including archival investigations and source criticisms, while offering readers tangible examples of how to do history differently.

This book explores the theory and practice of Victorian liberal parenting by focusing on the life and writings of John Morley, one of Britain's premier intellectuals and politicians. Reading Morley's published works-much of which explicitly or implicitly addresses this relationship-with and against other writings of the period, and in the context of formative circumstances in his own life, it explores how living one's life as a liberal extended to parenting. Although Victorian liberalism is currently undergoing reappraisal by scholars in the disciplines of literature and history, only a handful of studies have addressed its implications for intimate personal relations. None have considered the relationship of parent and child. Four of the chapters document how John Morley was parented and how he defined himself as a parent, based on newly available archival materials. Two other chapters analyze his many writings on or concerned with parenting and parenthood.

This book explores the theory and practice of Victorian liberal parenting by focusing on the life and writings of John Morley, one of Britain's premier intellectuals and politicians. Reading Morley's published works-much of which explicitly or implicitly addresses this relationship-with and against other writings of the period, and in the context of formative circumstances in his own life, it explores how living one's life as a liberal extended to parenting. Although Victorian liberalism is currently undergoing reappraisal by scholars in the disciplines of literature and history, only a handful of studies have addressed its implications for intimate personal relations. None have considered the relationship of parent and child. Four of the chapters document how John Morley was parented and how he defined himself as a parent, based on newly available archival materials. Two other chapters analyze his many writings on or concerned with parenting and parenthood.

In the 1880s and 1890s, Walter Besant was one of Britain's most lionized living novelists. Like many popular writers of the period, Besant suffered from years of critical neglect. Yet his centrality to Victorian society and culture all but ensured a revival of interest. While literary critics are now rediscovering the more than forty works of fiction that he penned or co-wrote, as part of a more general revaluation of Victorian popular literature, legal scholars have argued that Besant, by advocating for copyright reform, played a crucial role in consolidating a notion of literary property as the exclusive possession of the individuated intellect. For their part, historians have recently shown how Besant - as a prominent philanthropist who campaigned for the cultural vitalization of impoverished areas in east and south London - galvanized late Victorian social reform activities. The expanding corpus of work on Besant, however, has largely kept the domains of authorship and activism, which he perceived as interrelated, conceptually distinct. Analysing the mutually constitutive interplay in Besant's career between philanthropy and the professionalization of authorship, Walter Besant: The Business of Literature and the Pleasures of Reform highlights their fundamental interconnectedness in this Victorian intellectual polymath's life and work.

Considers the interrelated careers of three highly significant women writers of the nineteenth century Traces a chain of influence among three highly significant women writers of the nineteenth century: Mary Russell Mitford, Elizabeth Gaskell, and George Eliot Reconsiders the literary category of provincialism and the genre of the village story with due consideration of a range of publication formats and contexts Works across literary periods to offer innovative rereadings of several important Romantic- and Victorian-era texts Combines nineteenth-century cultural-historical and literary analysis to advance recent revaluations of liberalism by considering its emotive and not just its ratiocinative dimensions In this lively and illuminating work, Kevin A. Morrison offers a reassessment of Mary Russell Mitford's and Elizabeth Gaskell's provincial fiction, sometimes deprecated within a genre frequently considered 'minor literature', and demonstrates the importance of their work to the development of George Eliot's liberalism in the age of high realism. Although Gaskell was influenced by Mitford, and Eliot by Gaskell, only a handful of scholars have considered the affinities and resemblances among them. None have done so in depth. Establishing a chain of influence, this book examines the three authors' interrelated careers: the challenges they encountered in achieving distinction within the literary sphere; the various pressures exerted on them by publishers, reviewers, and editors; and the career-enhancing possibilities afforded, and the limitations imposed, by different modes of publication. Attending to publication history, genre, and narrative voice, Morrison suggests new ways to think about provincialism, liberalism, and women's networked authorship in the nineteenth century.

This book is a crucial resource for instructors interested in bringing the past alive for their students through hands-on, immersive educational experiences. While sharing a common historical field, the contributors hail from multiple disciplines, including art history, human biology, biological anthropology, and English literature. Ranging from assignments that involve students editing and annotating a primary work to producing an array of digital projects, and from participating in study-abroad programs to taking part in service-learning initiatives, the chapters will furnish readers with strategies for creating engaged and dynamic classrooms. Although the focus of the book is on Victorian Britain, the pedagogical approaches outlined in each chapter will be useful to instructors of any historical field.

First published in 1882, All Sorts and Conditions of Men chronicles daily life in the East-end district of Whitechapel road, where people go about their business with an air of quiet resignation. The arrival of Miss Kennedy, who wants to establish a dressmakers' co-operative, causes great excitement, especially when it transpires she is a friend of Angela Messenger, heiress to a local brewing fortune. Meanwhile, Harry Goslet learns his is not an aristocrat but the son of a lowly army sergeant. Determined to return to his true roots, he moves to the East End, where he ends up in the same boarding house as Miss Kennedy. The two discover a mutual interest in social reform, imagining a People's Palace of delight where the working classes can enjoy recreational activities as a reward for their labours. Nothing is quite what it seems in this magical microcosm, and soon their dreams are realised in the shape of a shimmering edifice that transforms the local community. This edition includes: a critical introduction, explanatory footnotes, suggestions for further reading, and extensive contextual material.

An interdisciplinary study of British liberalism in the nineteenth century Victorian Liberalism and Material Culture assesses the unexplored links between Victorian material culture and political theory. It seeks to transform understanding of Victorian liberalism's key conceptual metaphor - that the mind of an individuated subject is private space. Focusing on the environments inhabited by four Victorian writers and intellectuals, it delineates how John Stuart Mill's, Matthew Arnold's, John Morley's, and Robert Browning's commitments to liberalism were shaped by or manifested through the physical spaces in which they worked. The book also asserts the centrality of the embodied experience of actual people to Victorian political thought. Readers will gain new historical and literary understanding and will be introduced to an innovative methodology that links material culture and political theory. Key features Addresses interaction between British liberal thinkers and their workplaces as an essential component in your consideration of nineteenth-century liberalism Enhances understanding of Victorian literature and culture and the history of architecture and design through an interdisciplinary approach Bridges differences of perspective between students of material culture and political theory Based on extensive research in British and American archives, utilizing recently unsealed record

An interdisciplinary study of British liberalism in the nineteenth century'Victorian Liberalism and Material Culture' assesses the unexplored links between Victorian material culture and political theory. It seeks to transform understanding of Victorian liberalism's key conceptual metaphor - that the mind of an individuated subject is private space. Focusing on the environments inhabited by four Victorian writers and intellectuals, it delineates how John Stuart Mill's, Matthew Arnold's, John Morley's, and Robert Browning's commitments to liberalism were shaped by or manifested through the physical spaces in which they worked. The book also asserts the centrality of the embodied experience of actual people to Victorian political thought. Readers will gain new historical and literary understanding and will be introduced to an innovative methodology that links material culture and political theory.Key featuresAddresses interaction between British liberal thinkers and their workplaces as an essential component in your consideration of nineteenth-century liberalismEnhances understanding of Victorian literature and culture and the history of architecture and design through an interdisciplinary approachBridges differences of perspective between students of material culture and political theoryBased on extensive research in British and American archives, utilizing recently unsealed record

Affections and Domesticities: Writings on Victorian Family Life is a collection of key poems, excerpts from prose works, and full-length texts that explore the complexities of emotional life during the British Victorian period. The material introduces readers to the Victorian idealization of the family as well as challenges to the family's moral authority. The first section, "Domestic Affections," offers a glimpse into Victorian courtship and marriage through poetry and prose works that articulate expectations surrounding conjugal relations. The second section, "Domestic Affairs and Management," features excerpts from a variety of primary sources including etiquette guides, cookbooks, child-rearing manuals, and sermons. These provide insight into the roles of husbands and wives and the Victorian notion of the idealized innocent child who functions as the center of the family. The third section, "Domestic Revolts, Refusals, and Hesitations," uncovers growing discontent with aspects of middle-class family life and traces the emergence of the New Woman, a figure who flouted conventional gender norms and expectations. Featuring material not available in any single text, Affections and Domesticities is ideal for British literature survey and Victorian literature courses. The nature and subject matter of the readings also make the book suitable for interdisciplinary courses in women's and gender studies and Victorian culture.

Giving readers a fascinating look deep into Victorian England, this critical edition of Walter Besant's Children of Gibeon is ideally suited to courses in Victorian literature and history. The book includes several features to aid students in understanding the novel as both a literary work and an insightful exploration of important issues in Victorian society, including the role of women, poverty, inequality, and urban development. These features include: A critical introduction Annotations explaining Victorian terminology and events Contemporary reviews of the novel Contextualizing historical documents Appendices covering literary and social contexts, working-class domestic interiors, and middle-class domesticity By immersing themselves in Besant's tale of Lady Mildred Eldridge and her two daughters, one of whom is actually adopted from her former servant, students will gain fascinating insights into Victorian life. Following the tale of Violet and Valentine, who bear a striking resemblance to one another, students participate in a literary puzzle in which the truth of their origins reveals itself to the reader even as the characters remain in the dark. The story of the two girls is also a story of Victorian London-a city torn by geographic and economic divides. The unique literary, social, and historical perspectives provided by this annotated edition also make the book suitable for classes in nineteenth-century history, material culture, and gender studies.

In the 1880s and 1890s, Walter Besant was one of Britain's most lionized living novelists. Like many popular writers of the period, Besant suffered from years of critical neglect. Yet his centrality to Victorian society and culture all but ensured a revival of interest. While literary critics are now rediscovering the more than forty works of fiction that he penned or co-wrote, as part of a more general revaluation of Victorian popular literature, legal scholars have argued that Besant, by advocating for copyright reform, played a crucial role in consolidating a notion of literary property as the exclusive possession of the individuated intellect. For their part, historians have recently shown how Besant - as a prominent philanthropist who campaigned for the cultural vitalization of impoverished areas in east and south London - galvanized late Victorian social reform activities. The expanding corpus of work on Besant, however, has largely kept the domains of authorship and activism, which he perceived as interrelated, conceptually distinct. Analysing the mutually constitutive interplay in Besant's career between philanthropy and the professionalization of authorship, Walter Besant: The Business of Literature and the Pleasures of Reform highlights their fundamental interconnectedness in this Victorian intellectual polymath's life and work.

The East End is an iconic area of London, from the transient street art of Banksy and Pablo Delgado to the exhibitions of Doreen Fletcher and Gilbert and George. Located east of the Tower of London and north of the River Thames, the region has experienced a number of developmental stages in its four-hundred-year history. Originating as a series of scattered villages, the area has been home to Europe's worst slums and served as an affluent nodal point of the British Empire. Through its evolution, the East End has been the birthplace of radical political and social movements and the social center for a variety of diasporic communities. This reference work, with its alphabetically organized cross-referenced entries and its original and historical photography, serves as a comprehensive guide to the social and cultural history of this global hub.

This companion to Victorian popular fiction includes more than 300 cross-referenced entries on works written for the British mass market. Biographical sketches cover the writers and their publishers, the topics that concerned them and the genres they helped to establish or refine. Entries introduce readers to long-overlooked authors who were widely read in their time, with suggestions for further reading and emerging resources for the study of popular fiction.

From a cultural history of the essay to incisive contemporary rethinking of its usefulness in the classroom, from guides on how to write a seminar paper to guides on how to assess them, Making the Grade offers desperately needed clarity on a complex genre. The contributions in this book should be standard for every first-semester graduate student and every first-semester professor who wants to prepare undergraduates for graduate-level writing or who wants to prepare graduate students for professional publication.

From a cultural history of the essay to incisive contemporary rethinking of its usefulness in the classroom, from guides on how to write a seminar paper to guides on how to assess them, Making the Grade offers desperately needed clarity on a complex genre. The contributions in this book should be standard for every first-semester graduate student and every first-semester professor who wants to prepare undergraduates for graduate-level writing or who wants to prepare graduate students for professional publication.