The Victorians by Philip Davis, Reader in English Literature at the University of Liverpool, is the second of the volumes of new Oxford English Literary History to appear. The complete series will consist of 13 volumes and is the successor to the previous 15 that appeared between 1945 and 1997. As before, each of the new volumes is, or will, with the exception of the first, be the work of a single scholar.
The author comments, almost casually, that over 40,000 novels were published between 1837 and 1901. This shattering thought alone, endears us to anyone with the knowledge and skill who attempts to chart the territory and assist the newcomer, or even the old‐timer, to come to grips with these singular Victorian times. In his General Preface, the General Editor explains that the primary aim of the series is the exploration of “the diverse purposes of literary activity and the varied mental worlds of writers and readers in the past”, and expresses the view that literary history “cannot be divorced from cultural and intellectual revolutions or the effects of social change and the upheaval of war”. Indeed, what is “literary” (as distinct from “literature”) is the fact that the sensitive portrayal of thoughts and feelings that characterise good fiction provide a dimension to “documentary” history that is otherwise absent.
This approach to literature results in a rich, critical discussion of case studies and a wide survey of works of diverse literary genres. In doing so, it “informs” us and fleshes out what could otherwise be dry and remote. The major features of the historical developments of the period are described along with its characteristic intellectual and spiritual preoccupations and anxieties. There are accounts of the conditions of the publishing industry, contemporary and subsequent critical reception of works with close readings for features of style and content. In this way the achievements of the selected writers can be seen as specific to their individual creators but within the complex and dynamic environment of the times.
It should be noted that the inclusive dates are 1830‐1880, rather than the fuller span of Victoria’s reign. A volume covering 1870‐1914 – from “Victorian” to “Edwardian” – is promised.
Davis writes with clarity and forthrightness and his comprehensive knowledge and the subtlety of his critical views, his incorporation of some new developments in literary criticism, and his enthusiasm for the achievements of the Victorians, are features that will impress readers. Close adherents of literary theory and schools of criticism may cavil, but all readers will be impressed by the new knowledge and insights the author offers, and will return to the texts refreshed. Refreshing too, to know that the day of the big single‐author monograph has not been entirely superseded by the team approach to writing.
Whereas biographies move chronologically through the period of the life imposing a sense of an ordered sequence which cannot reflect how the subject actually felt as the life was being lived, here the focus is on broad themes such as nature, religion, the mind and psychology, urbanisation, the conditions of literary production, types of genres and fiction, realism, and self‐awareness. Some authors command a dominant place in one of these categories – Darwin, Ruskin and Spencer in Nature; Trollope and Eliot in High Realism – others will appear in several.
One feature of the book that is of particular significance to librarians is the author’s awareness of publication matters. At the end of the book, for example, where there are 58 author biographies, attention is paid to the author’s publishing history, the best modern editions, major authoritative editions, and the best modern biographical and critical works. This is something lacking in contemporary librarianship (our forebears were better at this) and is a feature worth seeking in other volumes of this series.
The Victorians is a magnificent achievement. Teachers, students and serious readers will return frequently to it guided by Davis’s comprehensive learning and subtle readings of one of the richest periods of literature in our history.
