Picturing the Past: English History in Text and Image, 1830-1870

by Rosemary Mitchell

Overview

Through a series of interrelated case-studies of nineteenth-century history books, history textbooks, and historical novels, Rosemary Mitchell draws out the attitudes of Victorians toward their national past. She highlights how history—once a popular pastime—became the preserve of professionals and how both the text and images in popular and scholarly publications contributed to Victorian cultural identities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198208440
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/14/2000
Series:	Oxford Historical Monographs
Pages:	326
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Trinity and All Saints College, University of Leeds

Table of Contents

Introduction: Picturing the English Past in Nineteenth-Century Britain: Historical Consciousness and National IdentityPublishing the Past: Text and Image, Author, Illustrator and PublisherThe History of The History of England: The Evolution of a Standard Text and its IllustrationsTrue Stories and Solid Facts: The Evolution of the English History TextbookThe Picturesque Face of the Past: The 1840s Novels of William Harrison Ainsworth'A United People': Charles Knight and the Making of a Picturesque History of EnglandSeparate Spheres and Early Women's HistoryJohn Lingard's History of England: A Catholic HistoryThackeray, A'Beckett, and Leech: 'The Dignity of History'The Abuse of Antiquity and the Uses of Myth: The Illustrated Historical Novel after 1850Experiments with History: The Later Novels of W. H. Ainsworth and their Illustrations and the Decline of the Picturesque Historical NovelConclusion

Editorial Reviews

"Mitchell writes eruditely but readably...This book is a fine example of deconstructionist scholarship—and proof that it need not be obscured behind a veil of jargon."—CHOICE

"Rosemary Mitchell's impressive study of nineteenth-century popular history and historical fiction provides a welcome reminder of their significance in the formation of contemporary British national identity. She has given us much to consider by providing cogent analysis of the genre and form of nineteenth-century popular history."—American Historical Review

From the Publisher