Research Catalog

Title

The ephemeral eighteenth century : print, sociability and the cultures of collecting / Gillian Russell.

Author

Russell, Gillian Kay, 1976-

Publication

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 303 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm.

Summary

Often regarded as trivial and disposable, printed ephemera, such as tickets, playbills and handbills, was essential in the development of eighteenth-century culture. In this original study, richly illustrated with examples from across the period, Gillian Russell examines the emergence of the cultural category of printed ephemera, its relationship with forms of sociability, the history of the book, and ideas of what constituted the boundaries of literature and literary value. Russell explores the role of contemporary collectors such as Sarah Sophia Banks in preserving such material, arguing for 'ephemerology' as a distinctive strand of popular antiquarianism. Multi-disciplinary in scope, The Ephemeral Eighteenth Century reveals new perspectives on the history of theatre, the fiction of Maria Edgeworth and Jane Austen, and on the history of bibliography, as well as highlighting the continuing relevance of the concept of ephemerality to how we connect through social media today.

Series Statement

Cambridge studies in Romanticism

Uniform Title

Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 129.

Subjects

• Theater
• Printed ephemera
• History
• 1700-1799
• Great Britain
• Banks, Sarah Sophia, 1744-1818
• Theater > Great Britain > History > 18th century
• Printed ephemera > History > 18th century

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction: 'All of the ephemera of our lives' -- Accidental readings and diurnal historiographies: the invention of ephemera -- Making collections: enlightenment ephemerology -- The natural history of sociability: Sarah Sophia Banks and her ephemera collections -- Sarah Sophia Banks' 'magic encyclopedia' -- 'Announcing each day the performances': playbills as theatre/media history -- Transacting hospitality: the novel networks of the visiting card -- England in 1814: frost fairs, peace, and persuasion.

Call Number

JFE 21-4534

ISBN

• 1108487580
• 9781108487580

OCLC

1122460762

Author

Russell, Gillian Kay, 1976- author.

Title

The ephemeral eighteenth century : print, sociability and the cultures of collecting / Gillian Russell.

Publisher

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2020.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Cambridge studies in Romanticism

Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 129.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological Term

1700-1799

Other Form:

ebook version : 9781108800211

Research Call Number

JFE 21-4534