18th century… The Working Man’s Robin Hood: The Writings of Allan Cunningham (1784–1842) 24 Jan 202024 Jan 2020 By Stephen Basdeo In 1832, the publisher Charles Knight had a bright idea: every Saturday he would publish a new magazine which whose aim was to educate working-class readers about…
19th Century… “The Vision” by Robin Hood (1841) 16 Jul 2019 Everyone of course loves to investigate appearances of the name of Robin Hood in medieval court records. One of these days, it might finally be proven who the “real” Robin…
18th century… “If they must have a British Worthy, they would have Robin Hood” 7 Jul 2019 By Stephen Basdeo This post originally appeared on the IARHS website Amongst the great writers of eighteenth-century literature, the names of two men stand out: Sir Richard Steele (1672-1729) and…
19th Century… Jack Harkaway: The Victorian Harry Potter 26 Jun 2019 By Stephen Basdeo The Victorians in many ways were just like us: they enjoyed a good scandal whenever it was reported in the press, they liked both trashy and high-brow…
14th Century… The Flemish Revolt: Pierce Egan’s “Quintin Matsys” (1838) 28 Dec 2018 By Stephen Basdeo Pierce Egan the Younger (1814–80) is one of my most favourite Victorian authors. The son of the more famous Regency journalist and writer, Pierce Egan (1772–1849), he…
19th Century… When “Upperworld” and “Underworld” Meet: Social Class and Crime in “The Mysteries of London (1844-46) 15 Mar 2017 [The following is the text of a talk given at Lancaster University's 'Class and the Past Conference' on 16 March 2017]. Introduction George William MacArthur Reynolds’ The Mysteries of London,…
