Search the blog

This year, 2018, is the 100 year anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918.  The Act which gave propertied women over the age of thirty, and all men over the age of twenty-one, the right to vote.  Over the course of 2018 we aim to digitise several suffragette and women’s newspapers.  These papers will allow us to explore the suffrage movement, and the social sphere of the women who campaigned for the right to vote.We are delighted to be able to…

2018 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the iconic novel about the young scientist, Victor Frankenstein, and the monster he created in his laboratory.  In this post, we will take a look at the history of the novel, a critical early review, the novel’s origins, and its various adaptations for the stage and screen.PublicationThe Morning Post printed a notice of the publication of a new novel, ‘Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus’, by an anonymous…

In honour of Remembrance Day, during the month of November, The British Newspaper Archive will be focusing our attention on military in the newspapers.  Coming up this month we will feature blogs about our special military titles, researching military history, women and war, and wartime rationing and fashion, as well as a guest blog about a remarkable Great War discovery from The Archive.  To begin our military month, we are delving into the newspaper headlines through the years for the…

This day marks the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death. During the last two centuries, Jane Austen has become a household name. Austen and her modest-sized collection of works has enjoyed a vibrant presence in both academia and western culture, from quotes on magnets and clothing to movie adaptations and sequels to her novels. Austen’s name is equally as at home in highbrow literary essays and criticism as it is in contemporary periodicals meant for mass consumption, such as the…

The Premiere of Sherlock HolmesWhat better way to ring in the New Year than with the premiere of the latest series of the BBC’s Sherlock?The hype generated by this latest iteration of the famed ‘consulting detective’ is far from unprecedented. From the first appearance of the sleuth at 221B Baker Street, audiences have been glued to the page and eager for more.Sherlock Holmes first graced the pages of Beeton’s Christmas Annual in the 1887 printing of A Study…

Thomas Penson De Quincey, author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, died in Edinburgh on 8 December 1859 – he was 74.To mark the day, here is a newspaper obituary of De Quincey that was published two weeks after his death.Royal Cornwall Gazette – Friday 23 December 1859Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000180/18591223/036/0006Manchester Times – Friday 08 August 1890Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000504/18900808/030/0005…

Anthony Trollope, author of the ‘Chronicles of Barsetshire’, died in London on 6 December 1882 – he was 67.Trollope was the inventor of the post-box, or rather perhaps a leading campaigner for the idea of establishing a post-box, in the UK – it’s a matter of ongoing debate regarding whether he actually invented the post-box. Whatever, the post office and postal system was certainly a major muse on his writing.Here is a detailed newspaper obituary of Trollope that was published just eight days…

The brilliant English crime writer, Agatha Christie, disappeared on 3 December 1926, following a row with her husband, Archie.After a massive man hunt (or rather woman hunt) lasting ten days, Mrs Christie was found at a hotel in Harrogate, Yorkshire, where she had registered under the nom de plume, ‘Mrs Teresa Neele’ of Cape Town.Agatha Christie never explained anything about her sudden sabbatical – so it remains a mystery.Here are two newspaper stories: the first story reports on the disappearance…

‘Give us also the right to our existence’At Bow Street in London on 16 November 1928, Miss Radclyffe Hall’s novel, ‘The Well of Loneliness’, found itself in the dock on a charge of obscenity.The powers-that-be had decided that they did not like the novel’s ‘unnatural offences’ – hence the decision to prosecute.The magistrate eventually decided that the book was obscene and ordered that it be destroyed.Here is a newspaper story that reports on this famous literary court case.Image ©…

Robert Louis Stevenson was born at 8 Howard Place in Edinburgh on 13 November 1850.  To celebrate the day, here is an early newspaper review (from January 1886) of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – which was published on 5 January 1886.After his death in 1894, the Graphic published a retrospective look at the works of Robert Louis Stevenson and his contribution to literature.…