Join us for the next RSVP Digital Events event on Friday, June 9 at 4 p.m. London / 11 a.m. EDT / 8 a.m. PDT, when we will host an informal reading group and discussion of three chapters from Richard Altick’s The Shows of London (1978).
“What did nineteenth-century readers respond to that later readers have trouble discerning? The short answer, I believe, is spectacle.”
Stephen Arata
“People mutht be amuthed.”
Mr. Sleary
The Shows of London is a remarkable archive of the spectacles nineteenth-century audiences loved and how they intersected with periodical culture. For the first RSVP Digital Events Reading Group, we wanted to pick a text that feels like a classic but is perhaps one that periodicals scholars haven’t engaged with in some time, or at all.
Recent work by Clare Pettitt and others shows the continued pertinence and vitality that The Shows of London offers for expanding our research methods into the wider Victorian media ecosystem. For the reading group meeting, we will consider three chapters from Altick’s text:
- The Introduction
- “Panoramas: Topics of the Times”
- “The Noble Savage Reconsidered”
These three cover a breadth of spectacles that are also relevant to ongoing discussions about race and transimperial culture. Upon registering, you will receive a confirmation email that includes a link to PDFs of the chapters as well as the Zoom meeting link.
Join Us June 9
All RSVP digital events are free and open to the public. Complete the brief registration form below to receive the Zoom link and PDFs of the readings.
Come for the Conversation
This will be an informal meeting for busy people, so participants are invited to read as much or as little as they have time for, and to come along for conversation and conviviality even if they don’t get to everything.
For those who are especially keen or want to keep reading afterward, we will also make available completely optional chapters by Clare Pettitt and Sadiah Qureshi to show recent engagement with The Shows of London and its subjects. We hope to see you there!