Peterloo 1819. Papers Relative to the Internal State of the Country : Presented to both Houses of Parliament, by Command of His Royal Highness The Prince Regent, November 1819.

1819 : SURVEILLANCE AND SPECTACLE: THE STATE RESPONDS TO PETERLOO

Published by Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 24 November, London, 1819

About this Item

The Papers Relative to the Internal State of the Country, presented to Parliament in November 1819, stands as a chilling artefact of post-Peterloo statecraft. Compiled in the wake of the massacre at St Peter's Field, the report gathers magistrates' letters, intelligence summaries, and official correspondence into a narrative of national emergency. Its tone is one of alarm, deliberately so. By framing reformist gatherings as seditious and casting radical publications as incendiary, the report sought not only to inform Parliament but to justify a sweeping crackdown on civil liberties. It was the rhetorical scaffolding for the Six Acts, passed weeks later, which curtailed public assembly, expanded search powers, and tightened control over the press. Beyond its immediate political function, the report marks a turning point in the evolution of state surveillance. It reveals an early architecture of information-gathering: local informants, intercepted letters, and the monitoring of public meetings. Reformers were not just opposed, they were watched, catalogued, and rhetorically transformed into threats. This bureaucratic gaze, once reserved for foreign enemies, was now turned inward. The document thus offers a glimpse into the birth of domestic intelligence as a tool of governance, where the line between public order and political control began to blur. For modern audiences, the report resonates not only as a historical record but as a cautionary tale. Its language, urgent, moralistic, and often theatrical, reminds us how easily surveillance can be framed as necessity, and how dissent can be rebranded as danger. In the shadow of Peterloo, it is less a neutral ledger than a curated performance of state anxiety, one that continues to echo in debates about liberty, protest, and the politics of observation. Bound in modern boards, paper covered, with a simple printed label. Some foxing throughout. Size: 21 x 33.5 cms. Category: Antiquarian & Rare; Hardback Books; Special Interest. This item may require more postage than the rates shown for delivery outside the UK. If extra postage is required we will contact you before processing your order and you will be given the details and option to decline the extra cost. Cosmo Books : 29 years on ABE, 47 years taking care of customers. A bookseller you can rely on.

Seller Inventory # 373739

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Peterloo 1819. Papers Relative to the Internal State of the Country : Presented to both Houses of Parliament, by Command of His Royal Highness The Prince Regent, November 1819.
• Publisher: Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be Printed, 24 November, London
• Publication Date: 1819
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Antiquarian & Rare