Britain in 1859 : custom, history, modernity / Gail Marshall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Marshall, Gail, 1965- Author.

Series:

Cambridge studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture ; 158.

Cambridge studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture ; 158

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

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

English literature.

Literature and society--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Literature and society.

Eighteen fifty-nine, A.D.

Great Britain--History--Victoria, 1837-1901.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 242 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Summary:

The year 1859 produced major works by writers including George Eliot, Charles Darwin, and Charles Dickens. They represent some of the greatest literary, political, social, and scientific achievements of the Victorian period, and have come to embody a substantial part of what we mean by the term 'Victorian'. In Britain in 1859: Custom, History, Modernity, these enduring texts are read alongside key events of the year; other significant publications from authors such as Collins, Smiles, Mill, Tennyson, and Beeton; and newspapers and periodicals. Gail Marshall reveals a year which was innovatory but also deeply conflicted about how to accommodate and acknowledge change within contemporary thought and practice. Custom, as the year's predominant and most readily available historical form, enabled the Victorians of 1859 to negotiate with the past as they faced the future.

Contents:

How it begins

'The custom of the country'

Adam Bede and popular culture

Voting reform and 'the English character'

The theatre of war

Lifting the veil on fraud and forgery

November : originality, adaptation, and custom

Conclusion. 1859 and 'the mother tongue of our imagination'.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 10 Jul 2026).

ISBN:

1-009-73903-4

Access Restriction:

Open Access. Unrestricted online access