Title The ephemeral eighteenth century : print, sociability and the cultures of collecting / Gillian Russell

Published Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2020 ©2020

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 303 pages) : illustrations Series Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 129 Cambridge studies in Romanticism ; 129. Contents Introduction: 'All the ephemera of our lives' -- Accidental readings and diurnal historiographies: the invention of ephemera -- Making collections: enlightenment ephemerology -- The natural history of sociability: Sarah Sophia Banks and her ephemera collections -- Sarah Sophia Banks's 'magic encyclopedia' -- 'Announcing each day the performances': playbills as theatre/media history -- Transacting hospitality: the novel networks of the visiting card -- England in 1814: frost fairs, peace, and persuasion Summary Often regarded as trivial and disposable, printed ephemera, such as tickets, playbills and handbills, was essential in the development of eighteenth-century culture. In this original study, richly illustrated with examples from across the period, Gillian Russell examines the emergence of the cultural category of printed ephemera, its relationship with forms of sociability, the history of the book, and ideas of what constituted the boundaries of literature and literary value. Russell explores the role of contemporary collectors such as Sarah Sophia Banks in preserving such material, arguing for 'ephemerology' as a distinctive strand of popular antiquarianism. Multi-disciplinary in scope, The Ephemeral Eighteenth Century reveals new perspectives on the history of theatre, the fiction of Maria Edgeworth and Jane Austen, and on the history of bibliography, as well as highlighting the continuing relevance of the concept of ephemerality to how we connect through social media today Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Online resource; title from PDF title page (Cambridge Core, viewed August 20, 2020) Subject Printed ephemera -- History -- 18th century Printed ephemera Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9781108767347 1108767346 1108800211 9781108800211

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