Sound of Terror: Hearing Ghosts in Victorian Fiction

Sounds of Terror explores the interrelations between discourses of sound and the ghostly in Victorian novels and short stories. Narrative techniques used by Charles, Dickens, George Eliot, Henry James, and Charlotte Mew are historically and culturally situated through their use of or reactions against acoustic technology. Since ghost stories and nvoels with gothic elements rely for the terrifying effects on tropes of liminality, my study consists of an analysis of an important yet largely unacknowledged species of these tropes: auditory metaphors. Many critics have examined the visual metaphors that appear in nineteenth-century fiction, but, until recently, aural representations have remain critically ignored. The aural itself represents the liminal or the numinous since sounds are less identifiable than visuals because of their ephemeral nature. My study shows the the significance of auditory symbols becomes increasingly intensified as the century progresses. Through analyses of Charles Dickens\u27s David Copperfield, George Eliot\u27s Daniel Deronda, and short stories by Henry James ( The Altar of the Dead and In the Cage )and Charlotte Mew ( Passed and A White Night ), I argue that Victorian writers using gothic modes employ metaphors and symbolism as an alternative to frightening visual images--what could be heard or not heard proved terrifying and dreadful

Rhetorical transformations: The figurative language of the industrial revolution.

This dissertation is an examination of the rhetoric and images used in the British industrial rhetoric of the mid-nineteenth century. This body of work encompasses the industrial novel as well as non-fiction works. This study discusses the implications bound up with rhetorically transforming laborers into hands, machines into gods from the Greco-Roman and Christian traditions, and the industrialist into the mythic figure of the self-made man. The final chapter examines the assumptions and contradictions in the rhetoric of the riot, which often involves sublime imagery. My basic thesis is that in the novels of this era rhetoric, through metaphors and imagery, imaginatively serves to erase social history and the scope of human responsibility and power. The more original aspect of my thesis arises from my attention to the tensions and contradictions in the writers' attitudes and how these are imagistically regenerated

A Prodigy of Universal Genius: Robert Leslie Ellis, 1817-1859

Places Ellis at the heart of early-Victorian Cambridge with in-depth descriptions on his scientific work and tragic life Provides a unique glimpse into Victorian intellectual culture, based on previously unpublished archival materials This open access book brings together for the first time all aspects of the tragic life and fascinating work of the polymath Robert Leslie Ellis (1817–1859), placing him at the heart of early-Victorian intellectual culture. Written by a diverse team of experts, the chapters in the book’s first part contain in-depth examinations of, among other things, Ellis’s family, education, Bacon scholarship and mathematical contributions. The second part consists of annotated transcriptions of a selection of Ellis’s diaries and correspondence. Taken together, A Prodigy of Universal Genius: Robert Leslie Ellis, 1817–1859 is a rich resource for historians of science, historians of mathematics and Victorian scholars alike. Robert Leslie Ellis was one of the most intriguing and wide-ranging intellectual figures of early Victorian Britain, his contributions ranging from advanced mathematical analysis to profound commentaries on philosophy and classics and a decisive role in the orientation of mid-nineteenth century scholarship. This very welcome collection offers both new and authoritative commentaries on the work, setting it in the context of the mathematical, philosophical and cultural milieux of the period, together with fascinating passages from the wealth of unpublished papers Ellis composed during his brief and brilliant career. - Simon Schaffer, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridg

Illustrated travel: steel engravings and their use in early 19th century topographical books, with special reference to Henry Fisher & Co..

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the introduction, production and sale of steel engravings in the illustrated picture books of the first half of the nineteenth century with particular reference to the publications of Henry Fisher, who began his career in Liverpool and continued it together with his son Robert in London. By looking at the processes from the initial artist's design through to its engraving and printing, and by establishing the interaction between the artist, author, publisher and engraver, this study will lead to a better understanding of both the economics and aesthetics of print production and determine the destination of these illustrated picture books by examining the relationship between the publisher and the public. Previous work on nineteenth-century topographical steel engraving has largely had a bibliographical rather than historiographical aim and has concentrated on the classification of images into regional units. Although useful these publications are not intended to be critical and do not lead to an understanding of the contextual background necessary to explain the enormous output and consumption of topographical steel-engraved books in the 1830s and 1840s. The two leading specialist topographical print-publishers were the London firms of Fisher, Son & Co. and George Virtue. The early career of Henry Fisher as a master printer of mainly religious publications issued in numbers is examined, and this study shows how his innovative marketing, selling and distribution methods led to these being adopted by others in the publishing trade. His transition from publisher of religious numbers in Liverpool to leading publisher of illustrated topographical works in London is investigated for the first time. As no records, account books or archives appear to have survived, this dissertation is based on the substantial number of illustrated travel books with steel-engraved plates that both firms produced between 1829 and 1844 as well as correspondence from Robert Fisher to the Irish artist George Petrie, in which Fisher explains some of 'the peculiarities of our business'. The two most prolific designers of illustrations for topographical picture books in this period were Thomas Allom (1804-1872) who worked for Fisher, and William Henry Bartlett (1809-1854) who worked for Virtue. Their contribution to the field of topographical book illustration has largely passed unnoticed by art historians who question whether mass produced images can be valued as art. Allom and Bartlett are usually classified as jobbing topographical artists or, at best, as architectural draughtsmen. A secondary aim of this dissertation is to offer a counterbalance to this view and show that their art was more genuinely creative than merely reproductive and moreover that their motives for doing this work were far from being similar

A Prodigy of Universal Genius: Robert Leslie Ellis, 1817-1859

Places Ellis at the heart of early-Victorian Cambridge with in-depth descriptions on his scientific work and tragic life Provides a unique glimpse into Victorian intellectual culture, based on previously unpublished archival materials This open access book brings together for the first time all aspects of the tragic life and fascinating work of the polymath Robert Leslie Ellis (1817–1859), placing him at the heart of early-Victorian intellectual culture. Written by a diverse team of experts, the chapters in the book’s first part contain in-depth examinations of, among other things, Ellis’s family, education, Bacon scholarship and mathematical contributions. The second part consists of annotated transcriptions of a selection of Ellis’s diaries and correspondence. Taken together, A Prodigy of Universal Genius: Robert Leslie Ellis, 1817–1859 is a rich resource for historians of science, historians of mathematics and Victorian scholars alike. Robert Leslie Ellis was one of the most intriguing and wide-ranging intellectual figures of early Victorian Britain, his contributions ranging from advanced mathematical analysis to profound commentaries on philosophy and classics and a decisive role in the orientation of mid-nineteenth century scholarship. This very welcome collection offers both new and authoritative commentaries on the work, setting it in the context of the mathematical, philosophical and cultural milieux of the period, together with fascinating passages from the wealth of unpublished papers Ellis composed during his brief and brilliant career. - Simon Schaffer, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridg

Portland Daily Press: March 31,1881

https://digitalmaine.com/pdp_1881/1075/thumbnail.jp

Prosthetic Body Parts in Literature and Culture, 1832 to 1908

Covering the years 1832 to 1908, a period that saw significant development in prosthetic technologies—in particular artificial legs, teeth, and eyes—this thesis explores representations of prostheses in British and American nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature and culture. By considering prosthetic devices such as wooden legs and hook hands alongside artificial body parts that are often overlooked in terms of their status as prostheses, such as wigs and dentures, this thesis is the first to examine holistically the varied and complex attitudes displayed towards attempts to efface bodily loss in this period. Lennard J. Davis has shown how the concept of physical normalcy, against which bodily difference is defined, gained cultural momentum in the nineteenth century as bodily statistics emerged onto the scene (Enforcing Normalcy). This thesis builds on Davis’s work by considering other historical factors that contributed to the rise of physical normalcy, a concept that I show was buttressed by an understanding of the “healthy body” as “whole”. Like Davis, I also explore the denigration of physical difference that such a rise encouraged. The prosthesis industry, which saw tremendous development in the nineteenth century, cashed in on the increasing mandate for physical normalcy. However, as this thesis shows—and where it breaks new ground—while contemporary journalism and advertising often lauded the accomplishments of an emerging group of professional prosthesis makers, fiction tended to provide the other side of the picture, revealing the stereotypes, stigma, scepticism, inadequacies, and injustices attached to the use and dissemination of prosthetic devices. I argue that Victorian prosthesis narratives complicated the hegemony of normalcy that Davis has shown emerged in this period. Showing how representations of the prostheticised body were inflected significantly by factors such as social class, gender, and age, this thesis argues that nineteenth-century prosthesis narratives, though presented in a predominantly ableist manner, challenged the dominance of physical completeness as they either questioned the logic of prostheticisation or presented non-normative subjects in threateningly powerful ways.AHR