The University of York Victorian Society

The Leeds Nineteenth Century Reading Group

yorkvicsoc admin — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:39:14 +0000

We are happy to announce that The Leeds Nineteenth Century Reading Group is starting again for the new academic year. We will meet once a month to discuss a variety of texts written during the long nineteenth century. Each member of the group has the opportunity to suggest a text for discussion. We welcome anyone who has an interest in the literature of the period, including undergraduates, postgraduates, staff and real people (members of the public). The Reading Group provides members with the opportunity to discuss their ideas in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Also, as we will discuss a different text each month, there is no obligation to come to every meeting.

Our first meeting will take place on Tuesday 12^th October, at 5.15pm in the School of English (Seminar Room 5). With the recent successful returns of Sherlock Holmes to the big and small screens we thought that it would be timely and interesting to revisit the original material. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, published in October 1892, was the third book to recount the exploits of the Great Detective. The collection of short stories, which appeared in the Strand Magazine over the preceding year, was incredibly popular with the public. It so impressed Robert Louis Stevenson that he pronounced it:

‘the class of literature that I like when I have the toothache. As a matter of fact, it was pleurisy I was enjoying when I took the volume up; and it will interest you [...] to know that the cure was for the moment effectual’.

We will be specifically discussing three of the short stories in The Adventures, namely The Man with the Twisted Lip, The Speckled Band, and The Copper Beeches. They are all fairly fast paced and are incredibly quick reads.

There are several copies of the book in the Edward Boyle Library (combined with The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes), and the Brotherton houses a copy of the Annotated Sherlock Holmes, as well as The Complete Sherlock Holmes. It is also available on Project Gutenberg, here http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1661. Please bear in mind that, while Stevenson claims that toothache and pleurisy add to the reading experience, it will not be necessary to develop either to properly participate in the reading group. We will not think any less of you.

Also, the group budget is now, alas, depleted, so if you would like to bring something to eat or drink (alcoholic or otherwise) then please feel free to do so! We hope to see you on the 12^th.

For those requiring a map: click on the map on the following URL. The School is number 76. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/campus_map/

f anyone has a query, please email David and Amber at leeds19creadinggroup@gmail.com.

Victorian Society Research Forum: Call for participants

Claire Wood — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:10:30 +0000

On Monday 17 May, week 4, 5pm, BS/008, VicSoc is offering the opportunity for MA and PhD students to present work in progress. You might want to give a ten minute presentation on your current research or a twenty minute paper. Alternatively you could pre-circulate written material, or suggest a passage or image for discussion. This is a brilliant opportunity to clarify, develop and gain a fresh perspective on ideas by talking them through in a relaxed, supportive environment, while pooling our diverse specialist knowledge of the Victorian period.

If you would like to take part, please contact Claire (cew113) and Kate (kec503) with a rough outline of your topic and the format that you would like the discussion to take by 12 May.

Also, a quick reminder to please RSVP to cew113 about the potluck next Monday.

Victorian Research Seminar, University of Leeds

Kate Compton — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:28:29 +0000

Alice Crossley from the University of Leeds will be speaking on ‘“The conclusion is not as yet, and everything is possible”: Reading Bildung in Thackeray’s Serial Fiction’ on Wednesday 21st April at 5.15pm. The seminar will take place in the Douglas Jefferson Room, School of English, Leeds. All welcome.

Victorian Society ‘Potluck’ Curry Social

Claire Wood — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:22:34 +0000

“Curry, which was formerly a dish almost exclusively for the table of those who had made a long residence in India, is now so completely naturalised, that few dinners are thought complete unless one is on the table”
Maria Rundell, Domestic Cookery, 1807

Happy Easter everyone. To start the term VicSoc will be having a ‘Potluck’ social in week 2, Monday 3 May, starting at 7pm. The event will be at my house (for directions contact me at cew113@york.ac.uk). Kate and I will be cooking a delicious vegetable curry, but if–like Becky Sharp–you’re not a curry fan, any contribution of food or drink would be appreciated.

As well as offering us all a chance to catch up we will also be talking about upcoming VicSoc events, including a research forum and the opportunity for some stimulating roundtable discussion.

Best,

Claire

The Leeds Nineteenth Century Reading Group Special Session 27th April

yorkvicsoc admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 10:26:27 +0000

The Leeds Nineteenth Century Reading Group meets once a month to discuss a variety of texts written during the Nineteenth Century. Each member of the group has the opportunity to suggest a text for discussion. We welcome anyone who has an interest in the literature of the period, including undergraduates, postgraduates, staff and real people (members of the public). The Reading Group provides members with an opportunity to discuss their ideas in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Also, as each meeting is on different material, there is no obligation to come to every meeting.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 27th April, at 5.15pm in the School of English (Seminar Room 5). This will be a ‘special session’ of the reading group in which two of our regular members, David Ibitson and Dr. Beth Palmer, will present papers. We will have a combined Q&A/Reading group discussion afterwards. It would be great if people could read all of the material in time for the session, but if this is not possible then please do come along to the papers anyway.

David will be talking on ‘Jerome K. Jerome and Imperial Parody’, focusing on Three Men in a Boat. This text is available in the library and in most bookshops. It is also available for free in e-text form here http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/308 and here http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=title:three%20men%20in%20a%20boat%20AND%20mediatype:texts

and as a free audio download here:
http://librivox.org/three-men-in-a-boat-by-jerome-k-jerome/

Beth will be talking on the subject of ‘Being ‘Dickensy’ in the Victorian periodical press’. Some of the criticism discussed can be
found by following these links:

Dickens, ‘A Flight’, Household Words, 3 (August 1851), pp. 529-533.
http://0-britishperiodicals.chadwyck.co.uk.wam.leeds.ac.uk/articles/displayItemFromId.do?QueryType=articles&ItemID=x164-1851-003-75-000369

Collins ‘The Unknown Public’, Household Words, 18 (1858), 217-22.
http://0-britishperiodicals.chadwyck.co.uk.wam.leeds.ac.uk/articles/displayItemFromId.do?QueryType=articles&ItemID=x164-1858-018-39-000393

Sala, ‘The Cant of Modern Criticism’, Belgravia 4 (November 1867), 45-55
http://0-britishperiodicals.chadwyck.co.uk.wam.leeds.ac.uk/articles/displayItemFromId.do?QueryType=articles&ItemID=e502-1867-004-00-000162

These links are accessible with a University password. If this does not work for you, please let me know and we can make other
arrangements to get the material to you.

Also, the Group budget is now depleted, so if you would like to bring something to eat or drink (alcoholic or otherwise) then please feel free to do so! We hope to see you on the 27th. If you can, please try to think of reading suggestions for the following meeting.

For those requiring a map: click on the map on the following URL. The School is number 76. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/campus_map/

If anyone has a query, please email one of the organisers.

All best,

Owen Clayton (engotc@leeds.ac.uk)
Alice Crossley (eng5acc@leeds.ac.uk)
Louisa Hodgson (eng2ljch@leeds.ac.uk)

A Thomas Hardy Traditional Dance Party

yorkvicsoc admin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 20:03:51 +0000

Thursday, 18th March, The Treehouse, Berwick Saul Building, 7.30pm

Now, I know what you may be thinking. I myself may have initially thought that Thomas Hardy is not the first man I would associate with the word ‘party’. But I was wrong…

This illustration accompanies the short story ‘The History of the Hardcomes’, part of the ‘Wessex Folk’ series published in Harpers Monthly Magazine in 1891. It depicts a dance party – a Christmas gathering with traditional Wessex folk dances. And everyone is having a fabulous time. In fact, some of the couples are enjoying themselves so much that they can barely resist dancing, as suggested by the title of the plate: ‘Among Those Who Danced Most Continually Were the Two Engaged Couples’. See – now we’re talking!

Thomas Hardy was a fiddler in his youth and always remained fond of dancing. This evening will offer the chance to dance to some of the dances mentioned in his writing and some from Wessex to live fiddle music, interspersed with readings. We are very lucky to welcome back Jonathan Brockbank to lead the music and the dancing, and there will be nibbles and punch aplenty. It should therefore perhaps be noted that we aim to imitate the decorum of Great Hintock rather than Trantridge…

Paintings and Presentations: Events in Week 9

yorkvicsoc admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:27:11 +0000

A reminder about our exciting events in Week 9….

On Monday, 8th March at 7pm in the Treehouse (Berwick Saul Building), three PhD students from the society will be presenting their research to the group. Claire Wood, Mark Eslick and Erika Kvistad will all present a paper of around twenty minutes that illustrates some of their current research interests, and questions will be invited from the floor. As well as showcasing some truly fascinating research, the evening will provide a useful insight for both speakers and audience into the business of presenting research to an audience. It would be great to show our support to those facing this daunting and difficult task, and I hope to see many of you there. There will, of course, be delicious eatables…

Later that week, on Wednesday, 10th March, Jonathan Brockbank will be giving a guided tour around York Art Gallery, meeting at 2.10pm in the entrance hall. Please note that Jonathan has asked that those planning to go inform him prior to the event: please send emails to jnb4@york.ac.uk.

Best,

Helena (hbc500@york.ac.uk)

‘The Sorcerer’ by W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan: Theatre Trip and Reading Group

yorkvicsoc admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 23:36:22 +0000

Theatre Trip: Friday, 26th February, 7.30pm Central Hall

Reading Group: Monday, 28th February, 7pm, The Treehouse (Berwick Saul Building)

First performed in 1877, The Sorcerer was the first full-length opera to be written by Gilbert and Sullivan. It is set in the picturesque village of Ploverleigh, whose inhabitants are about to witness a major social event: the wedding of Alexis Pointdextre and Aline Sangazure, son and daughter of the two noble families that lead the local community. Full of ‘limpid joy’ and ready to float over the ‘lucid lake of liquid love’ into an eternity with his beloved, Alexis is convinced that ‘in marriage alone is to be found the panacea for every ill’, indiscriminate of ‘rank, wealth, education, age, beauty, taste and temper’. However, when he decides to bestow this gift on the villagers in the form of a patent love philtre purveyed by a certain John Wellington Wells, Family Sorcerer, the results are both ‘comic’ and ‘tragic’.

Combining both the original text and the more frequently performed revised version from 1884, the University of York Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s production has it all: propriety and passion, tangos and teapots, vast bustles, tip-top tophats and plenty of eggs ham and strawberry jam. While the show runs from the 25th-27th February, the Victorian Society have selected Friday 26th as their chosen date. Unfortunately we don’t have enough people going to get a group discount: could I therefore ask that people buy their own tickets, which are available at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/sorcerer2010.

To follow up on this exciting spectacle, there will be a reading group on Monday, 28th February on the opera. The revised 1884 text, with some details of the edited sections, is available at http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/sorcerer/sorcerer_lib.pdf. Should you wish, you can also see the script used for the York version, which includes the ‘Ahrimanes Scene’, cut from the 1877 version, here: Revised Sorcerer. While I can’t promise a ‘rollicking bun’, there will be delicious eatables of some variety – and it would be lovely to see you all to discuss this theatrical Victorian text in the context of its performance.

Best wishes,

Helena (hbc500@york.ac.uk)

The Leeds Nineteenth Century Reading Group Meeting 3rd March

yorkvicsoc admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:37:18 +0000

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 3rd March, at 5.30pm in the School of English (Seminar Room 5). Our next texts will be a selection of prose poems from Paris Spleen by Charles Baudelaire. They are available here http://www.niceonebruv.blogspot.com/ or else there are copies on Amazon. Please note that we will be reading these poems in English, although knowledge of the originals will always be welcome.

Also, the Group budget is now depleted, so if you would like to bring something to eat or drink (alcoholic or otherwise) then please feel free to do so! We hope to see you on the 3rd. If you can, please try to think of reading suggestions for the following meeting. For those requiring a map: click on the map on the following URL. The School is number 76. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/campus_map/ If anyone has a query, please email one of the organisers.

All best,

Owen Clayton (engotc@leeds.ac.uk)
Alice Crossley (eng5acc@leeds.ac.uk)
Louisa Hodgson (eng2ljch@leeds.ac.uk)

Just a reminder…

yorkvicsoc admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:32:17 +0000

…if you have any topic ideas for the Rutgers video conference, please let me know by tomorrow.

Thanks,

Helena (hbc500@york.ac.uk)