Author Description
This is a book about readers on the move in the age of Victorian empire. It examines the libraries and reading habits of five reading constituencies from the long nineteenth century: shipboard emigrants, Australian convicts, Scottish settlers, polar explorers, and troops in the First World War. What was the role of reading in extreme circumstances? How were new meanings made under strange skies? How was reading connected with mobile communities in an age of expansion? Uncovering a vast range of sources from the period, from diaries, periodicals, and literary culture, Bill Bell reveals some remarkable and unanticipated insights into the way that reading operated within and upon the British Empire for over a century.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This book investigates how reading practices functioned as a critical component of identity and survival for mobile populations within the British Empire between 1800 and 1918. Bill Bell, a scholar of book history, utilizes a wide array of primary sources—including personal diaries, colonial records, and military periodicals—to analyze how individuals in extreme or isolated environments engaged with literature. He argues that reading was not merely a passive leisure activity but a dynamic process of meaning-making that helped settlers, soldiers, and explorers navigate the challenges of imperial expansion.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of reading habits among shipboard emigrants, Australian convicts, Scottish settlers, polar explorers, and WWI troops.
- Examination of the physical and logistical constraints of transporting books to remote colonial outposts.
- Synthesis of archival materials including personal correspondence, ship logs, and military records.
Scope Limits
- The study focuses primarily on British subjects and does not extensively cover the reading habits of indigenous populations within the empire.
- The analysis is bounded by the years 1800 and 1918, excluding the post-WWI decline of the imperial project.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars in the field of book history recognize this work as a significant contribution to the study of reader reception and the sociology of literature. Experts frequently highlight the text for its meticulous archival research and its ability to connect individual reading experiences to broader imperial history.
Page Count:
291
Publication Date:
2021-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0192647504
ISBN-13:
9780192647504
History
British Empire
Indigenous
Literary Criticism
19th Century
Book History
Cultural History
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