Bridget Jones’s Diary could easily win the “ultimate early 2000s rom-com” award, if there was one. Alcohol, cigarettes, a flat in London, mini skirts, and a job in publishing… Can it get further from the early Regency era of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice? And yet, beneath the hangovers, the messy apartment and the questionable…
A 21st-century guide to Mudie’s Select Library
Or: Why sales figures don’t always give the best indication of what the Victorians were reading If you’re a long-term reader of this blog, you’re probably familiar with its authors’ fascination with reading cultures. We’re aware that many of our readers found their way here for the numbers: maybe you urgently needed to know which…
The Bestselling English Novels of the Nineteenth Century, Ranked: Part Four
Other Bestselling Nineteenth-Century Novels – A Miscellany Part One, on instant successes, is here.Part Two, on novels which were successful in their first few years, is here.Part Three, on novels that sold well in their first few decades, is here. In this final (belated!) instalment of our series on very successful nineteenth-century novels, we provide…
The Bestselling English Novels of the Nineteenth Century, Ranked: Part Three
Which nineteenth-century novels sold the most in their first few decades? Part One, on instant successes, is here.Part Two, on novels which were successful in their first few years, is here.Part Four, on successful novels that don’t really fit into any of the other categories, is available here. In this post, we provide sales figures…
The Bestselling English Novels of the Nineteenth Century, Ranked: Part Two
Which nineteenth-century novels sold the most copies over their first few years? Part One on instant successes is here.Part Three, on novels that sold well in their first few decades, is here.Part Four, on successful novels that don’t fit into any of our other categories, is here. Last week we took a dive into the…
The Bestselling English Novels of the 19th Century, Ranked: Part One
Which were the fastest-selling novels of nineteenth-century Britain? Part Two, on novels which were successful in their first few years, is here.Part Three, on novels that sold well in their first few decades, is here.Part Four, on successful novels that don’t fit into any of our other categories, is here. This blog has been around…
The captain, the sea-serpent, and “the Illustrious News”
What can an 1848 sea-serpent sighting tell us about the workings of the mid-19th-century newspaper industry? Sixty feet long!Awfully strong!It held its course straight on, for right or for wrong,And many a brave tar on board of the Daedalus,Thought to himself if he comes here he’ll settle us. … Its size and its hues,All who…
Then and Now: The Wall by the Church-Yard
For today’s Then and Now post, we don’t have a pair of images side by side. Instead, we have a textual description of a part of Chapelizod as it was in the early 1800s, from one of Ireland’s great masters of horror, and to compare against it, a set of photographs which I took around…
Then and Now: The Chapel Royal at Dublin Castle
This post was suggested by my finding the British Library’s beautiful engraving of the Chapel Royal at Dublin Castle, on Flickr Commons. This picture dates to 1816, and shows the newly rebuilt Gothic chapel, designed by Francis Johnston, which replaced a 17th-century chapel that had been located on the same site, but which had become…
Lies and Litigation, Part Two: the cost of the Autographs
Part One of this post can be found here. Last year, I acquired a partial copy of Geraldine of Desmond from John’s Bookshop in Athlone. It was the only original Crumpe novel that I’ve ever seen for sale, and I was keen to own one for myself. It’s not in perfect condition, but this is…
Lies and Litigation, Part One; or, When is a First Edition Not a First Edition?
It’s 1831. You’re a recently-published novelist, and you suspect that your publisher – who has a bit of a dubious reputation in the business – is withholding the proceeds from your book. Worse still, you’ve asked repeatedly for the return of a manuscript, and he’s refused to provide it. There can only be one solution:…
Guest Post: The Real-Life Houses That Inspired Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice
Today’s guest post has been written by Will Leary, a former student of English with Film at University College Dublin. Will is especially interested in the crossovers between the two mediums of literature and film, particularly film adaptations of novels. Whom amongst us hasn’t dreamt of traversing the hallways of Pemberley? Or longed to take…
The Sea of Books 