Picturing the Past English History in Text and Image, 1830-1870 [Hardcover]

Through a series of interrelated case-studies of nineteenth-century history books, history textbooks, and historical novels, Rosemary Mitchell draws out the attitudes of Victorians toward their national past. She highlights how history--once a popular pastime--became the preserve of professionals and how both the text and images in popular and scholarly publications contributed to Victorian cultural identities.

Introduction: Picturing the English Past in Nineteenth-Century Britain: Historical Consciousness and National Identity
Publishing the Past: Text and Image, Author, Illustrator and Publisher
The History ofThe History of England: The Evolution of a Standard Text and its Illustrations
True Stories and Solid Facts: The Evolution of the English History Textbook
The Picturesque Face of the Past: The 1840s Novels of William Harrison Ainsworth
'A United People': Charles Knight and the Making of a Picturesque History of England
Separate Spheres and Early Women's History
John Lingard'sHistory of England: A Catholic History
Thackeray, A'Beckett, and Leech: 'The Dignity of History'
The Abuse of Antiquity and the Uses of Myth: The Illustrated Historical Novel after 1850
Experiments with History: The Later Novels of W. H. Ainsworth and their Illustrations and the Decline of the Picturesque Historical Novel
Conclusion

Mitchell writes eruditely but readably...This book is a fine example of deconstructionist scholarship--and proof that it need not be obscured behind a veil of jargon. --CHOICE

Rosemary Mitchell's impressive study of nineteenth-century popular history and historical fiction provides a welcome reminder of their significance in the formation of contemporary British national identity. She has given us much to consider by providing cogent analysis of the genre and form of nineteenth-century popular history. --American Historical Review