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March 2024

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arch has blown in again, more like a mouse than a lion, but carrying with it the first hints of spring, more calls for papers and conference announcements (added by our editorial assistant, Nigel Finch), and a whole range of new work.

One phenomenon of Victorian life was the growth of the suburbs. JB takes a look at this in a short piece, "Dickens on the Margins: Exploring the New Suburbia." In that connection she also added some of Weedon Grossmith's brilliant illustrations to our existing introduction to The Diary of a Nobody. One illustration shows the suburban Pooters dancing with glee after receiving an invitation to the Lord Mayor's Ball — such an honour, but their pride will be dented when they find out who else has been asked! In the painting section, she added William Michael Rossetti's account of the Pre-Raphaelite artist James Collinson, and opened a new section for his contemporary, Robert Collinson, to accommodate an item originally found by George Landow: Ordered on Foreign Service. This could now be shown with its later, larger version. Robert Collinson's carte-de-visite, from the photographic studio of Cecil William Wood, provided more material for our now quite large photography section.

Something that would also have pleased George: JB came across and formatted a contemporary account of the opening of the branch railway line from Brighton to Lewes, complete with illustrations of the mighty Brighton (or London Road) Viaduct, a skew bridge over the turnpike to Lewes, etc. All done in 10 months! JB also added accounts of the line's engineer, John Urpeth Rastrick, and some of his other work, including the early, graceful Chepstow Bridge — as well as his huge granite monument, in the style of a railway turntable.

As usual, our Managing Editor Diane Josefowicz has been busy on site-wide matters, and Diane and our History Editor, Dory Agazarian, have worked together to compile their list of recommended Podcasts of Interest to Victorianists. Do have a look: we will be making our own soon, but this is a great start. Diane also added a review by Sara Malton, of Karin Koehler's Thomas Hardy and Victorian Communication: Letters, Telegrams and Postal Systems, which ties in so well with our other material in this area.

Via our Senior Editor, Simon Cooke, Ed Smith kindly sent in an obituary of William Philip Nimmo, to add to our knowledge of Scottish publishers — we already had a splendid example of the kind of books he published, but without any information about him. Simon himself is completing his work on the illustrator Georgina Bowers: we're looking forward to that!

Philip Allingham, our Contributing Editor from Canada, has finished his series of illustrations of Pickwick Papers by the less well-known illustrator Thomas Onwhyn, providing a biography (helped by the archival research of Graham D.C. Titley, who had, in turn, drawn on Philip's work — a pleasant example of scholarly collaboration). Philip then found a cache of new illustrations of the novel by Harry Furniss, supplementing those we already have. Some are very lively indeed — for example, here's Bob Sawyer having a high old time on a carriage roof! Philip is rescanning and adding new insights to his earlier material, some of it dating from almost the beginning of the website in the early twentieth century. Yes, we are ancient, and technology has improved by leaps and bounds during the last twenty or so years. Just look at the wonderful detail in this gathering, depicted by the illustrator Robert Barnes, in The Mayor of Casterbridge.

Further to last month's work on Frank Cadogan Cowper's early drawings, Scott Buckle sent in a brief biography of the artist, and this was followed by Dennis Lanigan's whole new series of essays on another unjustly neglected Pre-Raphaelite artist, James Collinson (yes, this is what drew JB to this part of the website). Much of James Collinson's work perfectly captures the social history of the period, including the great boom in the housing market: one of his most popular paintings was (and is) To Let. But this Collinson's paintings have a greater range than perhaps realised. Here for example is a soldier returning, blinded, from the Crimean War (Home Again); and here is a timeless etching, The Child Jesus.

One challenging task this month has been to improve the list of Pre-Raphaelite artists, acknowledging not only the main "Pre-Raphaelite sisters," but the many artists who went through important Pre-Raphaelite phases. Please take a look and see who might still be missing!

The latest article from the government-funded University of Victoria's Pregnancy Project is in too: Hilary Marland's Puerperal Insanity, a diagnosis still being made in the 1930s — having by then played its part in social change by dramatically challenging the Victorian ideal of "The Angel on the Hearth." This is the last of the fifteen articles in this funded project, but our general maternity section is, of course, always open to well-informed contributions, whether academic papers as such, or selected and annotated material from contemporary sources. All will be assessed (we have a robust peer-reviewing system).

Also enlightening, but in quite a different way, is Laurent Bury's latest review, this time of Patricia Smyth's Paul Delaroche: Painting and Popular Spectacle. The French artist's best known work is probably The Execution of Lady Jane Grey, which hangs in the National Gallery. This and other works, like The Christian Martyr (a forerunner of Millais's Ophelia), greatly influenced British art in the mid- to late-Victorian period.

Elsewhere, we now have Catriona Blaker's informative review of Gillian Grute's Heavenly Embroidery, with its spectacular illustrations of the work of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, a wonderful addition to our embroidery section.

Meanwhile, over in the French section.... We were delighted to receive Sabrina Laurent's translation of the artist James Tissot's detailed chronology. What an interesting life-story it reveals (thank you again, Lucy Paquette for the original!).


February 2024

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ebruary arrived with a rush of new notifications and submissions. Do check conferences and calls for papers, because the deadlines pass so quickly. Here's one on a topic most of us feel strongly about, one way or another: "The Museum will not be Decolonised" — and the deadline is at the end of this month. So don't miss the chance to have your say. Our Senior Editor, Simon Cooke, selected and reformatted for us two new contributions from the Pre-Raphaelite Society's journal: Rober Wilkes's "F. G. Stephens’s The Proposal: A Neglected Pre-Raphaelite Painting"; and "Three Early Drawings by Frank Cadogan Cowper," by Scott Thomas Buckle. Don't forget to check out the Society's page for upcoming talks (though this month's is already over!).

At the end of last month JB opened a new section on the architectural practice of Lanchester, Stewart and Rickards. We already had some of their landmark buildings, like the imposing Cardiff City Hall. This was to introduce and give space to a new contribution: Kenneth Lynn's very informative and enjoyable review of Timothy Brittain-Catlin's book, Edwin Rickards. JB also added a variety of new items needed to help illustrate all the new work added this month (see below). One example (with help from Scott Buckle) is Edward Burne-Jones's interesting early watercolour, Sidonia von Bork 1560. Later, she put online her own review of Clare Carlisle's enjoyable, widely praised book on The Marriage Question: George Eliot's Double Life. This led in turn to the creation of a small gallery of photos, paintings and illustrations of Eliot and her work.

Along with her contributions to the managing of the website, Diane Josefowicz has found time for a searching review of Gretchen Braun's Narrating Trauma: Victorian Novels and Modern Stress Disorders — a review which includes a spirited discussion of Gwendolen Harleth in George Eliot's Daniel Deronda. Diane also put online the latest contribution to the University of Victoria's Pregnancy and Childbirth project, Kristen Kalsem's article on the tragedy of Infanticide, considered from both legal and cultural perspectives. Next up, from Diane and our history editor Dory Agazarian working together, some news about podcasts... Coming shortly!

As a change from book design and illustration, our Senior Editor Simon Cooke contributed a really original and chilling essay on Sheridan Le Fanu's use of spooky sound effects — quite a challenge to write about and spooky to read, too! With the help of a budding photographer in the family, Timothy Cooke, he also sent in three very delightful Parian ware busts, of a rather grim Thackeray, Tennyson and an unusually sage-like Dickens. These were followed by a (generally!) enthusiastic review of the new show at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, "Radical Victorians: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts and Crafts Movement"(on now until 31 October 2024).

Hard at work as ever, our contributing editor in Canada, Philip Allingham, has very much enjoyed Robert L. Patten's Dickens, Death and Christmas, supplementing his review with a more detailed look at Patten's discussion of A Christmas Carol itself. Could there possibly be anything new to say about this seasonal staple? Apparently, there could! Philip followed this up with a few brief but very illuminating excerpts from Dickens, Death and Christmas, such as this one on the role of pantomime in The Cricket on the Hearth. Philip has also nearly finished a series on a new Dickens illustrator: Thomas Onwhyn. Dickens himself was not a fan, but that doesn't mean Onwhyn should be overlooked. Take a peek at this dramatic Pickwick frontispiece.

Meanwhile, lots happening in the painting section. Moving straight on from his authoritative study of the St John's Wood Clique, Dennis T. Lanigan has teamed up with fellow art historian, Scott Thomas Buckle: together they bring Ford Madox Brown's good friend, the artist William Cave Thomas, into the Pre-Raphaelite fold. Paintings like Eliezer offering the earring and bracelets to Rebekah show how much Thomas contributed to the movement, and how richly he deserves a place of his own in art history.

We are really lucky to have well-known art historians writing for us, introducing new artists, and reviewing books and exhibitions: Pamela Gerrish Nunn's latest is a review of another trail-blazing book, Discovering Women Sculptors, edited by Marjorie Trusted and Joanna Barnes.

Equally welcome are Shirley Nicholson's contributions. The first is a long overdue addition to our "Victorian master builders" section, on the well-known building magnate Sir Charles James Freake. Freake was the subject of a Vanity Fair caricature and a marvellous cartoon by Linley Sambourne in Punch. His was surely the ultimate story of the self-made man, elevated to a baronetcy without having lost his cockney accent (which, it is said, his higher class wife lovingly adopted). Shirley's next contribution was an account of the Punch cartoonist, Bernard Partridge, who exercised his talents on the stage as well as on the drawing board. It's such a pleasure to see the website growing with the inclusion of such characters. And more recently Shirley has written an entertaining piece about Punch's convivial "Mahogany Tree" (great wooden table), as drawn by Linley Sambourne, complete with dinner guests past and present, on the occasion of the magazine's Jubilee in 1891. The past attendees are represented by portraits and busts, by the way, not ghosts!

Also very welcome indeed are a series of new excerpts from the writings of Eneas Dallas. These were selected and largely (expertly) formatted by a new contributor, Graham Law, and range from a discussion of Florence Nightingale's ideas about nursing, to insights into George Eliot's Silas Marner. The variety of topics is simply amazing, as is the variety of publications to which Dallas contributed — indicating the flood of periodicals that appeared at this time (we hope to run a review of Graham's major scholarly study soon, on The Periodical Press Revolution: E. S. Dallas and the Nineteenth-Century British Media System).

We're delighted to say, too, that Sabrina Laurent has started translating a new section into French — on James Tissot. There are two essays so far, on his life and the collectors and dealers who bought his work (fascinating topic!). At present his work appears to be more popular in England than in France, and we hope this will help to inspire more interest in him among French readers.

Thanks as usual to Shirley Nicholson and Ray Dyer for their excellent proofreading services.


January 2024

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anuary brings a fresh start, and we wish everyone reading this a very happy and productive New Year.

Now the holiday is over, and the new tax season looms, you might like to check out our new donation and bequest information. All contributions gratefully received! They're tax deductible, and there are some great ways of helping us that you might not have thought of. We do want to update and improve the site, a project we're already exploring.

Even if you missed Margaret D. Stetz's Zoom presentation, “What’s New in the Goblin Marketplace?” on 9 January, do take a look at Dennis T. Lanigan's review of The Rossettis, the exhibition it accompanied. Thanks to our editorial assistant Nigel Finch, you can also check out some new conference notices. Don't delay: some of the calls for papers have deadlines coming up later this month.

An Illustrated London News account of the highly successful Royal Navy Exhibition of 1891 sent JB off to our small "British Navy" section. In fact we have far more material on the navy than was previously listed there — it just comes up under different headings: ships, armaments, wars and empire, for example, not to mention in the art and literature sections. So now we have a more extensive opening page, as well as a brief introduction to the Royal Navy's very important role in national life; a look at its various flags and the meanings behind them; and a discussion of Nelson and the Victorians — a big topic, and in some ways a tricky one. Tim Willasey-Wilsey kindly stepped in again here, with some useful comments and suggestions. In this connection, John Flaxman's monument to Nelson at St Paul's puts in an appearance at last. More contributions to this section would be very welcome.

Our Managing Editor, Diane Josefowicz, has continued to track down broken links and older work that needs updating, with some welcome help in the history section from the editor of that section, Dory Agazarian, who is also researching podcast possibilities for us. Exciting developments on the way!

Philip Allingham has now completed his project on Phiz's illustrations for Charles Lever's The O'Donoghue. As always with Phiz, they feature some memorable horses, though this one (the local doctor's shaggy Irish pony) is far from a gallant steed. Philip has joined in the big drive to refresh old links, root out old work with out-of-date formatting, etc.

Congratulations to our Contributing Editor from Poland, Andrzej Diniejko, who has now successfully completed his life of Lord Byron, the first to be published in Poland for sixty years. For those of us who don't speak Polish, and so can't enjoy the open-access edition, Andrzej has kindly written a splendidly wide-ranging piece in English on Byron's literary afterlife in the Victorian period.

Also from Poland comes news of a ambitious new book, Literary Appropriations of Myth and Legend in the poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson, William Morris, Algernon Charles Swinburne and William Butler Yeats, by Ewa Młynarczyk (1982-2022). This was written as a doctoral thesis for the Institute of English Studies, University of Warsaw, but, very sadly, Ewa died before she was able to defend it. The Institute has now published it, and we give a few extracts from the Preface and Introduction here: "Myth and Legend in Victorian Poetry"; [George Eliot's] "Casaubon, the Scholar-Mythologist"; and "William Morris and the Old Norse Legends." You can get details of the book (also available as a free e-book) at the end of each extract. This material inspired us to open a new section on Myth and Legends, where it was soon joined by an excellent piece of collaborative research by Thibault André-Terramorsi, Léo Grattarola and Mary-Anne Stanek of the Université Bordeaux-Montaigne: "The Arthurian Revival as an Answer to a Changing World, written for Professor Béatrice Laurent's seminar, "Myths and Icons in Victorian Britain."

Meanwhile, Dennis Lanigan has brought his project on the St John's Wood Clique of painters to a triumphant conclusion with a thorough consideration of the last important figure, John Evan Hodgson. Prominent enough in his own time (he became a professor of painting at the Royal Academy), Hodgson should be much better remembered than he is. In one amusing example of his orientalist painting, for instance, he depicts Chinese Ladies Looking at European Curiosities.

More seriously, Michael Statham sent in some new archival material on the statue of Florence Nightingale atop a wing of the Cardiff Royal Infirmary — this is an exciting find, as the statue has been recorded as "untraced" in other sources, and Mike hopes to publicise it. Also rather a rare find, this time from a new contributor, Brian Butterly, is John Sliegh's illustration for Eliza Cook's melancholy poem, "Dead Leaves."

Thanks as ever to Shirley Nicholson, who has just proofread the whole section on the sculptor Sir Francis Chantrey. It is cheering to find how much can now be added to some of the early entries. Shirley herself contributed more material on his background and also the Chantrey Bequest, through which he continues to influence the art world today: Sir Francis Chantrey: From Norton to the Nation. Ray Dyer also kindly continues to proofread. Please send in your corrections, too, if you spot mistakes!



Last modified 16 January 2024