The Romance of Victorian Natural History

The Romance of Victorian Natural History
Author: Lynn L. Merrill
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 328
Release: 1989
Genre: History
ISBN:

This study focuses on how the enthusiasm for natural history in the nineteenth century produced characteristic ways of conceptualizing and visualizing the world--especially the Victorian fascination with particulars--as frequently seen in Victorian poetry, fiction, history, and textual studies. Arguing for natural history as an influential literary genre, Merrill examines the language and recurrent motifs in Victorian and some American natural history texts, as well as surveying the works of Philip Henry Gosse, Charles Kingsley, Hugh Miller, and John Burroughs.

A Natural History of the Romance Novel

A Natural History of the Romance Novel
Author: Pamela Regis
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2013-08-31
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0812203100

The romance novel has the strange distinction of being the most popular but least respected of literary genres. While it remains consistently dominant in bookstores and on best-seller lists, it is also widely dismissed by the critical community. Scholars have alleged that romance novels help create subservient readers, who are largely women, by confining heroines to stories that ignore issues other than love and marriage. Pamela Regis argues that such critical studies fail to take into consideration the personal choice of readers, offer any true definition of the romance novel, or discuss the nature and scope of the genre. Presenting the counterclaim that the romance novel does not enslave women but, on the contrary, is about celebrating freedom and joy, Regis offers a definition that provides critics with an expanded vocabulary for discussing a genre that is both classic and contemporary, sexy and entertaining. Taking the stance that the popular romance novel is a work of literature with a brilliant pedigree, Regis asserts that it is also a very old, stable form. She traces the literary history of the romance novel from canonical works such as Richardson's Pamela through Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Brontë's Jane Eyre, and E. M. Hull's The Sheik, and then turns to more contemporary works such as the novels of Georgette Heyer, Mary Stewart, Janet Dailey, Jayne Ann Krentz, and Nora Roberts.

A Natural History of Dragons

A Natural History of Dragons
Author: Marie Brennan
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2013-02-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1429956313

Marie Brennan begins a thrilling new fantasy series in A Natural History of Dragons, combining adventure with the inquisitive spirit of the Victorian Age. You, dear reader, continue at your own risk. It is not for the faint of heart—no more so than the study of dragons itself. But such study offers rewards beyond compare: to stand in a dragon's presence, even for the briefest of moments—even at the risk of one's life—is a delight that, once experienced, can never be forgotten. . . . All the world, from Scirland to the farthest reaches of Eriga, know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world's preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. But before she became the illustrious figure we know today, there was a bookish young woman whose passion for learning, natural history, and, yes, dragons defied the stifling conventions of her day. Here at last, in her own words, is the true story of a pioneering spirit who risked her reputation, her prospects, and her fragile flesh and bone to satisfy her scientific curiosity; of how she sought true love and happiness despite her lamentable eccentricities; and of her thrilling expedition to the perilous mountains of Vystrana, where she made the first of many historic discoveries that would change the world forever. "Saturated with the joy and urgency of discovery and scientific curiosity."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on A Natural History of Dragons An NPR Best Book of 2013 The Lady Trent Memoirs 1. A Natural History of Dragons 2. The Tropic of Serpents 3. Voyage of the Basilisk 4. In the Labyrinth of Drakes 5. Within the Sanctuary of Wings At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

A Natural History of Love

A Natural History of Love
Author: Diane Ackerman
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2011-06-01
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0307763323

The bestselling author of A Natural History of the Senses now explores the allure of adultery, the appeal of aphrodisiacs, and the cult of the kiss. Enchantingly written and stunningly informed, this "audaciously brilliant romp through the world of romantic love" (Washington Post Book World) is the next best thing to love itself.

Fairy Tales, Natural History and Victorian Culture

Fairy Tales, Natural History and Victorian Culture
Author: Laurence Talairach-Vielmas
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2015-12-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1137342404

Fairy Tales, Natural History and Victorian Culture examines how literary fairy tales were informed by natural historical knowledge in the Victorian period, as well as how popular science books used fairies to explain natural history at a time when 'nature' became a much debated word.

The Romance of Natural History, Second Series

The Romance of Natural History, Second Series
Author: Philip Henry Gosse
Publisher: Good Press
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2019-12-04
Genre: History
ISBN:

The Romance of Natural History, Second Series is a book by Philip Henry Gosse. Contents: Death of Species—Some Died in Early Historic Ages—Some Dying Now—Changes of Land and Water—Tertiary State of Europe—Dinothere of Germany—Sivathere of India—Gigantic Tortoise—Pachyderms of Siberia—Rhinoceros—Mammoth and many more.

Love in the Time of Victoria

Love in the Time of Victoria
Author: Francoise Barret-Ducrocq
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 241
Release: 1992-12-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0140173269

Using firsthand documents uncovered in the archives of a London foundling hospital, Barret-Ducrocq offers a marvelously acute census of Victorian sexual and moral attitudes.

Natural History Societies and Civic Culture in Victorian Scotland

Natural History Societies and Civic Culture in Victorian Scotland
Author: Diarmid A. Finnegan
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2016-09-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0822981777

The relationship between science and civil society is essential to our understanding of cultural change during the Victorian era. Science was frequently packaged as an appropriate form of civic culture, inculcating virtues necessary for civic progress. In turn, civic culture was presented as an appropriate context for enabling and supporting scientific progress. Finnegan's study looks at the shifting nature of this process during the nineteenth century, using Scotland as the focus for his argument. Considerations of class, religion and gender are explored, illuminating changing social identities as public interest in science was allowed—even encouraged—beyond the environs of universities and elite metropolitan societies.

A Natural History of the Romance Novel

A Natural History of the Romance Novel
Author: Pamela Regis
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2003
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780812233032

Situating each novel in its own time while interpreting it through the critical vocabulary she proposes, Regis specifies how romance conventions change yet retain the essential formal requirements of the genre."--BOOK JACKET.