“Reynolds is a rascal,” said Marx, “but a rich and able speculator. Find out what the father of communism thought about the biggest-selling novelist of the Victorian era.
“A Rascal … but rich”: Karl Marx and G. W. M. Reynolds | Stephen Basdeo
Errors of the Christian Religion (1832) | G. W. M. Reynolds
I defy any living soul to refute Thomas Paine’s arguments. I have read answers to them, and attempts at refutation; but none succeed–all sink into the ground.
To Some Birds Flown Away (1837) | Victor Hugo
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1837 and translated by Mrs Newton Crossland.
The Sacking of the City (1825) | Victor Hugo
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1825 and translated by John Sullivan. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Three Glorious Days | Victor Hugo
The following poem, written by Victor Hugo to celebrate the French Revolution of 1830, was translated by Elizabeth Collins.
The Scourge of Heaven (1828) | Victor Hugo
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo in 1828 and translated by J.N. Fazakerley. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Ode to the Column of Napoleon (1835) | Victor Hugo
The following poem appeared in G.W.M. Reynolds’s translation of Victor Hugo’s Songs of Twilight (1835). It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Madelaine (1825) | Victor Hugo
The following poem was written by Victor Hugo, one of France’s finest poets, in 1823 and has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Victorian Killer Snakes | Stephen Basdeo
Snakes are one of mankind’s most feared enemies, and the Victorians loved to read about them. Killer snakes appear in a variety of popular magazines and novels.
The Canadian Exile (1839) | Anonymous
The following song was written in 1838, by an author who remains anonymous, and was published in Hugh Williams’s National Songs and Poetical Pieces (1839). It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo.
Adapting Hegel: Helen Macfarlane’s Writings for the Democratic Review (1849) | Stephen Basdeo
“Democracy, the Idea of the 19th century,” is a great and most welcome fact. This idea has revealed itself at different times, and in different ways.”
G. W. M. Reynolds’s ‘Memoirs’ Novels (1850–57) | Stephen Basdeo
In 1851 G.W.M. Reynolds launched a new series of ‘memoirs’ novels that told the story of poor women struggling to make their way in a heartless and alienating capitalist world.
A Democratic Lyric (1850) | Tyrtaeus
The following pro-democracy poem was written by someone writing under the pseudonym of Tyrtaeus and was published in Reynolds’s Political Instructor on 19 January 1850.
Napoleon (1838) | Victor Hugo
The following poem, celebrating the life and deeds of Napoleon, was first written by Victor Hugo in the 1830s. It was later translated for the Monthly Magazine, probably by G.W.M. Reynolds, who had previously translated several of Hugo’s works.
Sun-Set (1835) | Charles Cole
The following poem was written by the radical poet Charles Cole and printed in A Poetical Address to his Grace the Duke of Wellington (1835).
Love of Country (1867) | Anonymous
‘Love of Country’, was written anonymously and printed in Reynolds’s Miscellany. It does not celebrate any one country in particular.
The Chartist History of England: Henry I (1849) | Edwin Roberts
Selfish, haughty and arrogant…and can merit nothing but the severest censure. All his actions, when closely scrutinized, fill us with the most unequivocal contempt.
A Song of Hatred (1849) | Georg Herwegh
Georg Herwegh’s ‘A Song of Hatred’ expresses contempt for the German ruling class and was translated by the Fenian activist James Clarence Mangan in 1849.
Degradation of Toil (1835) | Charles Cole
Charles Cole was one of the finest radical poets of the early nineteenth century. ‘Degradation of Toil’ was first printed in Cole’s collection of poetry in 1835.
A Canadian Tale of Horror | Anonymous
I rose cautiously from the bed…One look, and the blood chilled in my veins, and I could feel the hair rising upon my head!
My Heart is in the Battlefield | “W.”
‘My Heart is in the Battlefield’ was first written in November 1839 and has been newly-transcribed for Reynolds’s News! Subscribe now for more 19th century short texts!
History of the British Aristocracy: Part One (1849) | Anonymous
The greatest and most fatal error in the annals of the world was suffering the growth and formation of an Aristocracy; it is the direst plague with which this earth is cursed, filling it with eternal bitterness.
Divinities of France | Victor Hugo
The following poem, titled ‘Divinities of France’, was written by Victor Hugo in the 1830s and was later translated by George W.M. Reynolds (under the pseudonym of Parisianus) and published in the Monthly Magazine.
Genius of France | Victor Hugo
This poem ‘The Genius of France’ was written by Victor Hugo and translated by G.W.M. Reynolds and published in the Monthly Magazine. It has been transcribed by Stephen Basdeo in 2021.