Nineteenth-Century Popular Lectures

This collection brings together and contextualizes a wide variety of lectures given in institutions and clubs in 19th century England. The popular lecture became one of the most common artefacts of Victorian culture and yet, due to its ephemerality, we know little about who spoke, who listened, why these lectures were delivered, and how they were received. The volumes in this set show how the lecture emerged as a central part of popular culture, how it changed over time, and how the educational and entertaining components of the popular lecture were in constant tension, preserving a crucial piece of political, social, and cultural history. In this, Volume IV: 1870-1900, the subject matter of credentialed speech, as well as the oratorical approaches of these credentialed men and women, will be highlighted in the selection of lectures. Selections will illustrate the growing tensions of popular lecturing as a space of education, of entertainment, and of the demonstration of citizenship.