A room of his own : a literary-cultural study of Victorian clubland / Barbara Black.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Black, Barbara J., 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--19th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

Literature and society--England--History--19th century.

Literature and society.

Men--Books and reading.

History.

Clubs.

England.

Clubs--England--London--History.

Men--Books and reading--England--History--19th century.

Men.

London (England)--Intellectual life--19th century.

London (England).

England--London.

Physical Description:

x, 301 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Athens, Ohio : Ohio University Press, [2012]

Summary:

In nineteenth-century London, a clubbable man was a fortunate man, indeed. The Reform, the Athenaeum, the Travellers, the Carlton, the United Service are just a few of the gentlemen's clubs that formed the exclusive preserve known as "clubland" in Victorian London - the City of Clubs that arose during the Golden Age of Clubs. Why were these associations for men only such a powerful emergent institution in nineteenth-century London? Distinctly British, how did these single-sex clubs help fashion men, foster a culture of manliness, and assist in the project of nation building? What can elite male affiliative culture tell us about nineteenth-century Britishness?

A Room of His Own sheds light on the mysterious ways of male associational culture as it examines such topics as fraternity, nostalgia, social capital, celebrity, and male professionalism. London's clubland-this all-important room of his own-comes to life as Barbara Black explores its literary representations and the important social and cultural work that this urban site enacts. Book jacket.

Contents:

Introduction: The man in the club window

A night at the club

Conduct befitting a gentleman: mid-Victorian clubdom and the novel

Clubland's special correspondents

Membership has its privileges: the imperial clubman at home and away

The pleasure of your company in late-Victorian Pall Mall

A world of men: an elegy for clubbability

Epilogue: A room of her own.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780821420164

082142016X

9780821444351

0821444352

OCLC:

793221837