How Romantics and Victorians Organized Information: Commonplace Books, Scrapbooks, and Albums

In nineteenth-century Britain, the commonplace book, scrapbook, and album were popular ways to collect and organize information. This book explores how technological and social changes shaped these practices, revealing the composition methods of well-known writers and their lesser-known contemporaries. It argues that the dominant epistemic frameworks of the period influenced the organization of knowledge and that commonplace books helped Romantics and Victorians organize people.

Format: Hardback
Length: 336 pages
Publication date: 04 August 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

In the nineteenth century, a commonplace book, scrapbook, or album was a common feature in every literary household in Britain. Renowned writers like Coleridge, Eliot, and Faraday maintained collections of quotations and observations, often referred to as "fly-catchers," "quarries," or "philosophical miscellanies." However, these nineteenth-century commonplace books, along with related traditions like scrapbooks and albums, have received relatively limited scholarly attention. This book aims to shed light on the evolution of methods for gathering, storing, and organizing information during this period.

As the commonplace book transitioned from the schoolroom to the home, it began to incorporate elements of friendship albums. At the same time, the proliferation of print technology made it easier for readers to extract quotations by cutting and pasting them rather than manually copying them. Based on a comprehensive analysis of over 300 manuscripts, this volume explores the composition practices of well-known writers such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sir Walter Scott, George Eliot, and Alfred Lord Tennyson, as well as their lesser-known contemporaries.

The book is divided into two sections. The first half examines how methods for organizing knowledge developed in alignment with the dominant epistemic frameworks of the nineteenth century. The second half argues that commonplace books played a significant role in helping Romantics and Victorians organize individuals and communities. Chapters focus on prominent organizational methods in nineteenth-century commonplacing, often associated with specific epistemic virtues: diaristic forms and the imagination (Chapter Two); real-time entries signaling objectivity (Chapter Three); antiquarian remnants as empirical evidence for historical arguments (Chapter Four); communally produced commonplace books that attest to socially constructed knowledge (Chapter Five); and more.

By examining the nineteenth-century commonplace book in its historical context, this book offers valuable insights into the ways in which technology, social change, and intellectual trends shaped the practices of information gathering and organization. It demonstrates how the commonplace book evolved from a tool for educational purposes to a versatile tool for personal expression, documentation, and knowledge management. Moreover, it highlights the role that commonplace books played in fostering intellectual exchange, promoting creativity, and shaping the cultural and intellectual landscape of nineteenth-century Britain.

Weight: 536g
Dimension: 211 x 142 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192895318