Selected Writings of James Fitzjames Stephen: On the Novel and Journalism

James Fitzjames Stephen (1829-1894) was a judge, criminal law historian, and author of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. He wrote essays on the novel and journalism, examining the responsibilities and irresponsibilities of these two professions. His work covered a range of publications, from Addison's The Spectator to the Crimean war correspondence of William Howard Russell, and weighed journalism in the scales from high culture to mass market.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 19 May 2023
Publisher: Oxford University Press

James Fitzjames Stephen (1829-1894) remains highly esteemed as a judge, historian of English criminal law, and author of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, a direct disagreement with John Stuart Mill. Through his weekly journalism, Stephen established himself as a vigorous cross-examiner in the various controversies of his time, which, remarkably, still resonate in our contemporary world. Collected herein are his essays on the novel and journalism, exploring the interplay between these two professions and their respective responsibilities and irresponsibilities. These reviews, written between 1855 and 1867, showcase Stephen's remarkable powers of mind and phrasing as he critically examines a diverse range of novelists, including Dickens, Thackeray, Harriet Beecher Stowe, E. C. Gaskell, Flaubert, and Balzac. Furthermore, his work takes a comprehensive look at journalism, encompassing various publications such as Addison's The Spectator, the Crimean war correspondence of William Howard Russell, the detailed law reports in The Times, the phenomenon of Letters to its Editor, the high culture of Matthew Arnold, and the mass market of Railroad Bookselling.

Weight: 608g
Dimension: 240 x 165 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192882837