Böcker i Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19th Century-serien

Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer (1841-1917), was a British statesman and colonial administrator. After a successful career in the War Office he was appointed the Controller General of Egypt in 1879. After the 1882 Anglo-Egyptian War, Baring became Consul General of Egypt, a position he held until 1907 when he resigned due to ill health. During his retirement, he maintained his interest in politics and contemporary culture. This volume, first published in 1913, contains a collection of articles written for magazines such as the Edinburgh Review and the Spectator between 1908 and 1913, on the topics of contemporary politics and literary culture. Baring discusses various subjects including Army reform, the contemporary systems of colonial government, and the future of Classics in education and historiography. This volume provides information on Edwardian views of imperialism, and also illustrates the types of popular articles which were published during this period.

John Stuart Mill (1806-73) was a pioneering British politician and social reformer who is considered one of the most influential social and political theorists of the nineteenth century. His works on logic, epistemology, political philosophy, women's legal rights and economics helped shape emerging radical social and political ideas, and ensured his reputation as one of Britain's foremost radical intellectuals. This volume, first published in 1861, contains Mill's discussion of democracy and the ideal system of government. Writing during a turbulent time in British politics, Mill discusses his political theories concerning democracy and his ideal political institutions and their proper functions, and links these with contemporary political questions including franchise reform, and colonial and federal government. His thoughts concerning the limitations of democracy, the links between performing civic duties, education and voting are fully illustrated in this influential volume, which is reissued from the second edition of 1861.

Bessie Rayner Parkes (1829-1925) was an English poet, writer and prominent early feminist best known for her campaigns for women's right to work and receive professional training. After meeting fellow feminist activist Barbara Bodichon (1827-1891) they founded the first English feminist journal, The English Woman's Review in 1858. Parkes served as its principal editor between 1858-1864. This volume, first published in 1865 and containing several essays from The English Woman's Review, advocates for young middle-class women to be given the opportunity to work and earn a living in safe conditions with fair pay. Parkes links the changes in society caused by the Industrial Revolution to the need for women to work. Her reassurance that married women should still be supported by their husbands illustrates how Parkes, like other contemporary feminists, worked within the contemporary social framework and used existing social norms to justify her aims.

The publication of Queen Victoria's journals in 1858 made her a best-selling author almost immediately. Dedicated to her late husband, Victoria's diary entries detail her Highland holidays at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire, frequented by the royal family since 1848. Writing of mountain adventures, boating, and other outdoor activities, the Queen portrays an idyllic family life far away from the politics and prying eyes of the London public. Her Highland exploits are supplemented with accounts of travels in England and Ireland and yachting expeditions. As Victoria had retreated from public life following the death of Albert, the publication of her journals gave the public access to their monarch in a different form, and the popularity of this book resulted in the subsequent publication, More Leaves from a Journal of a Life in the Highlands in 1884. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=victqu

In the preface to this 1859 book Harriet Martineau (1802-1876) tells the reader that this 'is not a work of invention' or a 'fancy-piece' and thereby sets the tone for a study that is partly historical and partly sociological. In the writing of the book, Martineau collaborated with another prominent nineteenth-century figure, Florence Nightingale. They wished to gain political support for improvements in military hygiene and health care. Martineau draws on Nightingale's experiences when nursing wounded soldiers during the Crimean War and builds it into a strong narrative that describes the conditions that soldiers experienced in the barracks, in hospitals and on the field, making practical recommendations as to how to improve these areas, by legislation if necessary, so as to ensure the future good health of Britain's armed forces. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=martha

Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904) was an Irish writer, social reformer and activist best known for her contributions to Victorian feminism and women's suffrage. After the death of her father in 1857, Cobbe travelled extensively across Europe before becoming a leader-writer addressing public issues for the London newspaper The Echo in 1868. She continued to publish on the topics of feminism, social problems and theology for the rest of her life. This volume, first published in 1863, contains a series of essays discussing topics of importance to early feminists. Cobbe explores sexual and matrimonial inequality and the changing status of and opportunities for single women, and advocates greater and more extensive female education. Cobbe also discusses possible reasons behind the inequality and limitations experienced by singe and married women, providing insights into the lives experienced by Victorian women and exemplifying the ideas and concerns of contemporary feminists.

Sydney, Lady Morgan (?1783-1859) is best remembered as a novelist whose highly successful historical romances often dealt with sexual, religious and racial discrimination. This work, published in 1840, examines the role of women in history. Morgan originally planned to write four volumes, but owing to her ill health only the first two, focusing on the Old Testament and classical civilization, were completed. Morgan proposes the view that women were really the dominant sex that shaped human society. She criticizes the legal discrimination against women that persists even in an age when superiority is no longer defined by sheer physical strength. In Volume 2 she focuses on examples from classical times, particularly some of the most influential Roman empresses. Morgan writes vividly and passionately about the indignities to which women were and are subjected by men. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=morgsy

Sydney, Lady Morgan (?1783-1859) is best remembered as a novelist whose highly successful historical romances often dealt with sexual, religious and racial discrimination. This work, published in 1840, examines the role of women in history. Morgan originally planned to write four volumes, but owing to her ill health only the first two, focusing on the Old Testament and classical civilization, were completed. Morgan proposes the view that women were really the dominant sex that shaped human society. She criticizes the legal discrimination against women that persists even in an age when superiority is no longer defined by physical strength. In Volume 1 she focuses on 'savage' and 'semi-civilized' peoples, and examples of societies as described in the Old Testament. Morgan writes vividly and passionately about the indignities to which women are subjected by men. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=morgsy

Published at a pivotal moment in the economic development of Britain, Conversations on Political Economy (1816) influenced a generation of economists, politicians and intellectuals. Employing her trademark format of dialogues between Mrs. Bryan and her pupil Caroline, Marcet introduces readers to theories surrounding property, population, and the 'condition of the poor'. Despite a target audience of young women, there is little evidence of feminine sentimentality, nor does the author's commitment to female education prevent her from propounding challenging, often controversial arguments; an approach which won her admiration. As one of her avid readers, Anne Romilly wrote, 'those, who like me know very little ... are delighted with the knowledge they have acquired'. In fact, the first edition was so well received that a second was called for before the author had time to make corrections. Marcet had become, as one of her obituarists later put it, the 'instructress of a generation'.

Sir John Barrow (1764-1848) was a distinguished British government diplomat whose career took him to China and Africa, and who in forty years as Secretary to the Admiralty was responsible for promoting Arctic and Antarctic exploration. A close friend of Sir Joseph Banks, he served on the Council of the Royal Society and as President of the Royal Geographical Society. Sketches of the Royal Society and Royal Society Club was published posthumously in 1849, as a supplement to Barrow's autobiography (also published in this series). It consists of a brief history of the societies, followed by a series of memoirs of presidents of the Royal Society of Barrow's time, and of other leading members of the Society and the Royal Society Club, the elite dining club associated with it. The biographies provide abundant evidence of the central importance of the Royal Society to scientific life in nineteenth-century Britain.

Richard, Marquess Wellesley (1760-1842) became one of the most controversial politicians of his generation during his time as Governor-General of Bengal (1798-1805). Although this period saw him achieve territorial gains in India, the financial cost was considered too high and many in London disagreed with the changes he made in Bengal. In 1809, after his return to Britain, he was appointed ambassador to Spain during the height of the Peninsular War (1808-1814) between France and an alliance of Britain, Spain and Portugal. His younger brother Arthur, the Duke of Wellington, was one of the key generals during this campaign. This collection of papers, published in 1838, covers this brief but dramatic period of Wellesley's career, after which he was appointed foreign secretary. Its editor, the political activist and historian Robert Montgomery Martin (1800-1868), also edited five volumes of Wellesley's Indian correspondence (also available in this series).

Francis Scougal was one of the pseudonyms of Felicia Skene (1821-1899), a writer and philanthropist, who also wrote fiction and religious works. She was particularly noted for her work with 'fallen women' and in the campaign for penal reform. This 1889 work was the result of ten years prison-visiting at Oxford Gaol. She argues for greater emphasis on rehabilitation of prisoners: they will be bound to re-offend if they are treated inhumanly while imprisoned and as outcasts when released. She argues against mandatory sentencing, on the grounds that individual cases cannot be treated identically; and opposes capital punishment, both because miscarriages of justice are bound to occur at times, and also because it does not act as a deterrent. Her non-judgmental account is remarkably modern. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=skenfe

Sir Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) travelled to the USA and was inspired by the rebuilding of Chicago, as well as his interest in social welfare, to found the Garden City Association in 1899. Howard believed that the solution to overcrowding and poor conditions in modern industrial towns was to produce new planned communities which created a 'joyous union' of town and country. The goal of the garden city was to combine the attractions of town life with access to nature and a healthier lifestyle. The first of these communities, Letchworth Garden City, was established in the early 1900s, followed by Welwyn Garden City in the 1920s. This volume, first published in 1898, sets out Howard's utopian vision in full; explaining how a garden city would be financed, planned and administered. Energetic and conversational in style, this book is a charming introduction to Howard's ground-breaking and influential ideas.

Emily Pfeiffer (1827-1890) was a British poet, writer and feminist. Best known for her poetry and sonnets, Pfeiffer also published essays and articles for numerous publications addressing the status of women in contemporary society. This volume, first published in 1888, contains Pfeiffer's analysis of social attitudes towards higher education and professional work for women. She explores in detail the social attitudes which discouraged women from attempting higher education, and describes and refutes contemporary medical opinions concerning the supposed dangers to health women faced in pursuit of it. She also presents an economic argument advocating the entry of women both to higher education and to professional employment. This volume provides a valuable analysis of contemporary attitudes to women's education during a period when the beginnings of change were accompanied by much controversy. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=pfeiem

William Cobbett (1763-1835) was at various times a soldier, a farmer, a radical activist and politician, and a journalist. At a time when the Industrial Revolution was dramatically changing the face of rural Britain, Cobbett was constantly concerned with improving the living conditions of the labouring classes. First published in 1821 as a series of pamphlets that sold over 30,000 copies, Cottage Economy demonstrates Cobbett's philosophy that the labourer should be taught industry, sobriety, frugality and 'the duty of using his best exertions for the rearing of his family'. With practical instructions, still relevant to those who seek to become self-reliant, Cobbett teaches the labouring classes of the nineteenth century the arts of brewing beer, keeping livestock, making bread, and 'other matters deemed useful in the conducting of the Affairs of a Labourer's Family.' Cottage Economy performs timelessly as the quintessential guide to self-sufficiency.

Lady Jane Francesca Wilde (1821-1896) is today best known as the mother of Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), but in her lifetime was famous in her own right as a fervent supporter of Irish Nationalism. After the death of her husband in 1876, Lady Wilde wrote to support herself, her other works including essays, literary criticism and travel writing. She was also a strong supporter of feminism and the campaign for female suffrage and legal rights. This volume, first published in 1893, contains a collection of essays on various topics of importance to Lady Wilde, including feminism, good manners and aesthetic clothing, with short biographies of Irish Nationalist leaders. This volume was Lady Wilde's last published work, and provides a valuable example of her writing style and the influence of the aesthetic movement on social behaviour. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=wildja

Eliza Fletcher (born Eliza Dawson) (1770-1858) was an English writer, literary patron and supporter of parliamentary reform and liberal politics. Fletcher became a patron of the poets Ann Yearsley and Hannah More, and later in life formed friendships with prominent writers Elizabeth Gaskell and Harriet Martineau. After her marriage to politician and electoral reformer Archibald Fletcher in 1791, she became more radical in her political views. This volume, first published in 1874, contains Fletcher's autobiography, edited by her daughter, Lady Mary Richardson. Fletcher describes her life chronologically, providing fascinating detail on her childhood and adolescence, and citing correspondence illustrating her relationships with her friends. She provides sharp observations on political issues and describes the social and literary circles in which she moved, giving valuable information on literary society and politics during the early nineteenth century. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=fletel

Josephine Butler (1828-1906) was a prominent English feminist who was best known for her controversial campaigns concerning the welfare and civil rights of prostitutes. In 1869 she became the leader of the movement to limit the extension of the Contagious Diseases Acts, and was instrumental in having the Acts repealed in 1886. She later became involved in campaigns to stop child trafficking and child prostitution, which led to the age of consent being raised to 16 from 13 in 1885. This volume, first published in 1893, contains Butler's memoirs of her many campaigns. Focusing on the years 1869-1880, Butler explains the political background to the Contagious Diseases Acts, describes the moral and political opposition to the legislation, explores the ideology of the repeal campaign and describes her role. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=butljo

Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton (1869-1923), granddaughter of writer Edward Bulwer Lytton, became a passionate and militant suffragette after visiting imprisoned activists in 1905. She was arrested twice in 1909, on one occasion for throwing stones at a ministerial car, but was soon released. In 1910, to test whether the treatment of women prisoners differed depending on their class, she created a working-class alter ego, Jane Warton, for a protest in Liverpool. Under that name she was imprisoned and participated in a hunger strike that led to her being force-fed eight times, permanently damaging her health. This account of her experiences, first published in 1914, is a moving insight into the experiences of women who risked their lives and endured great suffering to secure the right to vote. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=lyttco

Henry George (1839-97) was an American journalist and newspaper editor. In Progress and Poverty, his most famous work (1879), he seeks to explain the apparent paradox that the gulf between rich and poor in a developed city (or nation) is much less that that in a less developed community: 'Like a flash it came over me that there was the reason of advancing poverty with advancing wealth. With the growth of population, land grows in value, and the men who work it must pay more for the privilege.' His economic ideas were widely debated, and this volume also contains a response to the 1881 English edition of the book from Isaac B. Cooke, a cotton broker from Liverpool, and Andrew Mearns's The Bitter Cry of Outcast London (1883), a short but telling description of the reality of the poverty then to be found in the world's richest city.

Cobden was the leading liberal thinker of his generation, and it was largely through his influence that classical liberalism became the dominant political theory of the United Kingdom for over fifty years. This 1867 collection provides a fascinating insight into the significant political issues of the nineteenth century.

Henry Brougham (1778-1868), later Lord Brougham and Vaux, was educated as a lawyer, and moved in radical political circles, becoming Lord Chancellor in Lord Grey's Whig government, where he was instrumental in the passing of the 1832 Reform Act. This three-volume autobiography was published posthumously in 1871.

Through his activities, including legislation to improve conditions in mines and factories, and practical work to aid the destitute, Anthony Ashley-Cooper (1801-85), the seventh earl of Shaftesbury, became the best-known philanthropist of his age. This three-volume biography by Edwin Hodder (1837-1904) was first published in 1886.

In 1832, soldier and diplomat Alexander Burnes (1805-41) embarked on a covert expedition to Bukhara, to survey the country and observe the activities of the Russians in central Asia. This bestselling account was published in 1834. Volume 1 describes the journey to Bukhara, through Afghanistan into barely explored territory.

Charles Knight's six-volume work on London, published 1841-4, relies on the skills of eminent artists to bring both the present and the past of London to life. Arranged thematically rather than chronologically or geographically, this is a fascinating account of what was then the greatest city in the world.

The French geologist Barthelemy Faujas de Saint-Fond (1741-1819) went in 1784 to Britain to investigate the basalt formations on the Hebridean island of Staffa, and published an account of his journey in 1797. This two-volume annotated translation, prefaced by a short biography of Faujas, was published in 1907.

The achievements of the polymath Sir John Lubbock, Lord Avebury (1834-1913) spanned banking, politics and science. This two-volume biography by Horace G. Hutchinson (1859-1932), first published in 1914, traces Lubbock's extraordinary life and career, from the early influence of Charles Darwin to professional, intellectual and philanthropic pursuits.

Commissioned by Queen Victoria to memorialise her late husband, this five-volume biography was first published between 1875 and 1880. Volume 1 covers Albert's youth, his marriage to Victoria and the early years as her husband, up until the birth of their sixth child, Princess Louise, in 1848.

This two-volume biography presents the extraordinary and moving story, from acclaim to obscurity, of Dorothy Jordan (1761-1816), the celebrated comic actress, lover of Prince William, Duke of Clarence, and contemporary of Sarah Siddons. It was published in 1831 by her friend, the playwright and biographer James Boaden (1762-1839).

This edition of the papers of Thomas Creevey (1768-1838), Whig politician, diarist and letter-writer, whose papers provide an important source for the history of the early nineteenth century, was published in 1903. His gossipy letters give a vivid picture of the society and politics of his day.