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In July 1861 London newspapers excitedly reported two violent crimes, both the stuff of sensational fiction. One involved a retired army major, his beautiful mistress and her illegitimate child, blackmail and murder. In the other, a French nobleman was accused of trying to kill his son in order to claim the young man's inheritance. The press covered both cases with thoroughness and enthusiasm, narrating events in a style worthy of a popular novelist, and including lengthy passages of testimony. Not only did they report rumor as well as what seemed to be fact, they speculated about the credibility of witnesses, assessed character, and decided guilt. The public was enthralled.
Richard D. Altick demonstrates that these two cases, as they were presented in the British press, set the tone for the Victorian "age of sensation." The fascination with crime, passion, and suspense has a long history, but it was in the 1860s that this fascination became the vogue in England. Altick shows that these crimes provided literary prototypes and authenticated extraordinary passion and incident in fiction with the "shock of actuality." While most sensational melodramas and novels were by lesser writers, authors of the stature of Dickens, Thackeray, George Eliot, Trollope, Hardy, and Wilkie Collins were also influenced by the spirit of the age and incorporated sensational elements in their work.
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About the Author:
Richard D. Altick is Regents Professor of English, Emeritus, at Ohio State University. He is the author of many other books, among them Victorian Studies in Scarlet, Victorian People and Ideas, The Shows of London, A Panoramic History, 1600-1862, and Paintings from Books: Art and Literature in Britain 1760-1900.
Review:
"Altick's book vividly preserves an important and fascinating element of daily Victorian life. As such, it is the best sort of historical scholarship: the kind that puts us in close touch with a lost world and with people very much like ourselves."—Smithsonian
"An engaging study in historical sociology."—Washington Post
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- PublisherUniversity of Pennsylvania Press
- Publication date1986
- ISBN 10 0812212274
- ISBN 13 9780812212273
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages176
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Deadly Encounters : Two Victorian Sensations
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Deadly Encounters: Two Victorian Sensations
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Book Description Soft cover. Condition: VG+. White and brownish-gray wraps with period drawing to front, 8vo. 164pp. Index, bibliographical note. Occasional illustrations throughout. Two violent crimes in London of 1861 and their relation to the Victorian "age of sensation." VG+. Light thumb-sized bump to upper edge near spine evident acorss entire volume along extrmeme ends of upper margins (does not affect text). Mild soil spine. Binding tight and square. Text bright and unmarked. Seller Inventory # 002597
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Cover is in excellent condition, save for minimal corner bumping and rubbing. Text is otherwise tight in binding. Text is clean and free of blemishes throughout. No other markings or indications of note. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" Tall. Seller Inventory # 128369
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Philadelphia: UPP / University of Pennsylvania Press 1986 Paperback. 0812212274 . First edition. "In July 1861 London newspapers excitedly reported two violent crimes. Both cases were the stuff of sensational fiction. One involved a retired Army major, his beautiful mistress and her illegitimate child, blackmail and murder. The other accused a French nobleman with trying to kill his son in order to get the young man's inheritance".164 pages, illustrated, biographical note, index. Near Fine copy with some age toning to the cover and page edges. bx184. Seller Inventory # 26338
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