The Victorian era witnessed dramatic transformations in print culture, and this new anthology covers the exciting intellectual and social debates of the period. From first-person accounts of the lives of factory workers to Oscar Wilde’s aesthetic theory, and from narratives of British travelers in Africa and Asia to Havelock Ellis’s theories of “sexual inversion,” the surprising diversity of nineteenth-century nonfiction writing is represented. Illustrations from Victorian periodicals provide a vivid sense of the original reading experience.

The book’s thematic organization emphasizes the social and historical contexts of prose writings, as well as the way in which these writings address each other. In addition to a general critical introduction, the anthology features new thematic introductions by experts in the field.

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Mary Elizabeth Leighton and Lisa Surridge are Associate Professor and Professor of English, respectively, at the University of Victoria.

“A cause for celebration! With its judiciously chosen examples of life writing, travel memoirs, and social commentary, its glorious illustrations, and captivating selection of materials related to aesthetics, evolution, eugenics, and sexuality, this anthology will be a blessing to teachers, students, and scholars interested in the explosive growth of print media in the Victorian period.” — Christopher Keep, University of Western Ontario