Criminal Broadsides
It’s not often that I write of the dark underside of life in 19th Century Britain… but when I came across this “deposit” at Kent State University, I had to share.
Kent’s archival holdings contains BROADSIDES – those oh-so-ephemeral handouts that we all toss away. But these have miraculously been saved from the dust bin!
Imagine: one of the London printers of broadsides in the early 19th century had the intriguing name (nom de plume?) of Jimmy Catnach.
Among their criminal broadsides are some broadcasting the “unusual”, such as THE WILD AND HAIRY MAN, or THE WANDERING LADY. Although the veracity of the execution broadsides are called into question, the details are fascinating – and the website provides many instances of the contents of those. You can get your fill of Murderers, Horse Thieves, and Confessions (from the guilty or the wrongly-convicted) by reading through the 139 “cases” presented for your perusal. Dates covered 1800s, 1810s, 1820s, 1830s up to the 1870s.
Some EXTRAS:
- “The Cries of London” – highlights from the British Library
- Broadsides at Duke University (with images!)
- The Matrons in Hanging Sleeves and other Broadsides from the Library of Congress
- The Tissandier Collection (also Library of Congress)
- From the Guildhall: a fold-out copy of TWELVE Broadsides
- “Dying Speeches and Bloody Murders,” from Harvard Law School
One Man Band: Life of an Independent Scholar
Curious about what a project like this Smith & Gosling research entails?
Although I worked (as staff) in academia for nineteen years, being an “independent scholar” (ie, without academic affiliation) means you don’t have the “interaction” of colleagues. That I really miss — and that’s why I’m so grateful for the readers of Two Teens in the Time of Austen! If I can’t bend your ears, you at least allow me to bend your eyes. And it’s a two-way street – I value your comments and “likes” and dialogue.
So here’s my summary of Life as an Independent Scholar:
- the location of diaries, letters, sketch books, portraits and miniatures, ephemera
- a transcription of handwritten items
- identification of people, places, and also the political, social, economic history of the era (approximately 1760-1845)
- “getting the word out” through blog spots, journal, magazine and local history articles
- finding obscure sources, including private collectors, for single items that once belonged to the Smiths, Goslings and friends/family
- tracking down book citations
- tracking down oblique references to family members in printed or manuscript sources
- obtaining copies (xerox, digital photographs, microfilm) of relevant source material (thereby owing great debts to many blog readers)
- corresponding with lots of libraries, record offices, and other depositories
- TONS of internet searching
- accepting the help of anyone who offers (see “obtaining copies”)
- asking for help, when the distance is too great to make a personal visit (ditto)
- spending precious hours/days/weeks at wonderful libraries and archives
- typing-transcribing-writing-rewriting-proofing-searching-questioning-rewriting-proofing
No research assistants – No typists – No funding = A One-Man Band!
Little Red Bag of Emphemera
Today – 16 May 2012 – marks the fifth anniversary of the take off of this research project. That is the day I left Vermont for two months in England!
It seems a lifetime ago…
And yet, howfarthis project has come!
When I left for England, I knew there were diaries and letters – now I have worked with many of those (more to do!), and oh-so-much more besides. Private collectors have opened their vaults and drawn forth more letters, and a few more diaries, and sometimes pictures! Interested writers and scholars have offered help, tidbits, advice — and, yes, long-distance friendship. I also thank those readers who have found something of interest in this project, as it unfolds. Keep reading, for I must keep on writing.
I called this post a little red bag of ephemera for two reasons. First, last night, late – near midnight – I was rummaging for my bits and pieces: diaries, brochures from places visited – or those I had hoped to visit and never did, bus passes, grocery lists maybe too. I didn’t go through it all. Stopped when I found my plane itinerary. It is all stored in a glossy red shopping bag that once held a photo of St. Mary’s Church in Kinwarton — a framed photo gifted to me by Alan, following my talk on young Fanny Smith (aka the soon-to-be Fanny Seymour). Alan had done the legwork to bring in a very good local crowd who wanted to hear more about Fanny. Once I returned to Vermont, the photo got placed on my library table and all these little bits got put in the bag and the bag put away.
But – and here’s the second part – I’ve recently been researching for some new and different avenues of finding more letters and any other bits of paper the Smiths & Goslings might have left behind them. And that’s how I came across the Ephemera Society. Hey! who knew I was right “in style” keeping things like bus ticket stubs! Makes me feel like a collector.
Two Teens in the Time of Austen 