I feel bad writing about something like this, like I’m betraying my eighteenth-century roots.
The Worst Novel I’ve Ever Read: Samuel Richardson’s “Pamela” (1740)
Dr Stephen Basdeo
Stephen Basdeo is a historian and writer based in Leeds, UK. He is the author of several peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and popular history books.
A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode (c.1450)
“A Lytell Geste of Robyn Hode” (c.1450) is one of the earliest Robin Hood texts, and one of the most interesting.
Ben Jonson’s “The Sad Shepherd; or, a Tale of Robin Hood” (1641)
In 1637 Ben Jonson began work on a Robin Hood play, “The Sad Shepherd; or, a Tale of Robin Hood,” and presented an idealised, pastoral outlaw world.
The Downfall of Robert, Earle of Huntington (1598) & The Death of Robert, Earle of Huntingdon (1601) by Anthony Munday and Henry Chettle.
Robin Hood first became an Earl in the 16th century; two relatively unknown plays had a dramatic effect upon later interpretations of the legend.
Penny Dreadful Illustrations: Edward the Black Prince (1854)
Pierce Egan the Younger (1814-1880) was like the George R. R. Martin of his day. He loved the medieval period,
Criminality in Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1838)
The 19th-century criminal was an altogether different species of villain compared to the romantic highwayman a century previously.
The English Rogue (1665)
Exorbitancy and Necessity frequently compelled him to perpetrate Villainy; And no wonder, since he lived in the most infectious Air of the worst of most Licentious Times.
Eugene Sue’s “The Mysteries of Paris” (1843)
Eugene Sue’s “The Mysteries of Paris” marked the emergence of a new genre: the urban gothic.
The Novel and 18th-Century Criminal Biography
The novel emerged as the dominant literary form in the 1700s, but one of its influences was the contemporary genre of criminal biography.
The “True” Story Behind “The Hills Have Eyes” (1977) | Stephen Basdeo
By Stephen Basdeo. In 1977, the horror movie The Hills Have Eyes was released, but it was based upon a 17th-century Scottish folk tale and was then immortalised in 18th-century criminal biography
Don’t Mess with an 18th-Century Poet…
Twitter spats between celebrities might be a common occurrence these days (ahem, Katie Hopkins), but public disputes between celebrities is nothing new.
Waverley Novel Illustrations: The Antiquary (1816)
The Waverley Novels were a series of novels written by the great Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Amongst this series of novels were many which people today might recognise: Waverley (1814), The Antiquary (1816), Rob Roy (1817), Ivanhoe (1819), and Woodstock (1826) to name but a few.
Highwaymen as Heroes and Social Critics: “Paul Clifford” (1830) by Edward Bulwer Lytton
By the 1830s, the figure of the highwayman had almost vanished from Britain’s roads, but in a series of novels during the 1830s they were romanticised, and some authors adapted their stories to critique early Victorian society.
King Arthur; or, The British Worthy (1691) by John Dryden, with Musick by Henry Purcell
The ‘long eighteenth century’ (c.1688-c.1837) is not a period that people usually associate with medievalism…but the subject of this post is the play “King Arthur, or the British Worthy” (1691) by John Dryden and Henry Purcell.
“Bad” Prince John? Representations of the Prince in the Robin Hood Legend, c.1600-c.1800
Prince John is now one of the stock villains of movie and television adaptations of the Robin Hood legend, but this wasn’t always the case…
The Public School Ethos and Late Victorian Children’s Literature
The writers of biographical and fictional works in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries sought to instil these values into young people’s minds. These were the values of what is known as the public school ethos. This post shall examine the ways in which the values of the public school ethos were imparted to readers within such literature.
Eighteenth-Century Books
Every book which survives from the eighteenth century is a unique object, and likely there is not another one like it in the whole world.
Robin Hood Staffordshire Figurine
During the nineteenth century, various authors such as John Keats, Sir Walter Scott, and Thomas Love Peacock transformed Robin Hood into a morally safe figure; a respectable outlaw hero with whom the Victorian middle classes could identify. It was not purely in literary texts that Robin Hood’s respectable status was exhibited, however, but also in material culture.
Waverley Novel Illustrations: “Ivanhoe” (1819)
The Waverley Novels were a series of novels written by the great Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Amongst this series of novels were many which people today might recognise: Waverley (1814), The Antiquary (1816), Rob Roy (1817), Ivanhoe (1819), and Woodstock (1826) to name but a few.
Waverley Novel Illustrations: Woodstock (1826)
The Waverley Novels were a series of novels written by the great Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Amongst this series of novels were many which people today might recognise: Waverley (1814), The Antiquary (1816), Rob Roy (1817), Ivanhoe (1819), to name but a few.
Kew Gardens’ Imperial Connections
The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew were founded by Princess Augusta (1713-1772) in the 1760s. In 1838 a Royal Commission was set up to inquire into the future of the gardens. The Commission concluded that, after years of official neglect, ‘the gardens should either be put on a professional footing or be closed’.
Moral Panic and William Harrison Ainsworth’s “Jack Sheppard” (1839)
Many people will remember the furor over so-called “video nasties” in the early 1990s, when certain horror movies had been blamed for some particularly heinous juvenile crimes. Newspapers such as the The Sun carried headlines such as “burn your video nasties.” This was a knee-jerk reaction that is known as a “moral panic.” However, it was not the first time that the newspapers had blamed a form of entertainment for particularly heinous crimes.
Jargon of Men and Things
‘…every wise man would wish to absent from, rather than pay for a feat to behold, a mixture of noise, nonsense, and confusion. Amidst this jargon of men and things, thus promiscuously […]
Penny Dreadful PDFs: The New Newgate Calendar (1863) | Stephen Basdeo
Here are the scans I’ve recently completed of the penny dreadfuls in my collection so far.