Golden's new book looks at Victorian revolution in writing
Posting It?The Victorian Revolution in Writing,is the title of a new book (University of Florida Press, 2009) by Professor of English Catherine J. Golden.
Although "snail mail" may seem old-fashioned and outdated in the 21st century, Golden argues that the creation of the Penny Post in Victorian England was as revolutionary in its time as email and text messages are today.
Until Queen Victoria instituted the Postal Reform Act of 1839, mail was a luxury affordable only by the rich. Allowing anyone, from any social class, to send a letter anywhere in the country for only a penny had multiple and profound cultural impacts.
Golden demonstrates how cheap postage?which was quickly adopted in other countries?led to a postal "network" that can be viewed as a forerunner of computer-mediated communications. Indeed, the revolution in letter writing of the 19th century led to blackmail, frauds, unsolicited mass mailings, and junk mail?problems that remain with us today.
Princeton University scholar Elaine Showalter writes of the book, "Just as the Penny Post revolutionized communications, Catherine Golden's meticulous and imaginative analysis of its cultural effects transforms our reading experience of Victorian fiction. From the blackmail plot to the writing desk, the paraphernalia of the Victorian novel takes on new meaning and contemporary parallels."
Golden, a specialist in Victorian literature and illustration, is author of Images ofthe Woman Reader in Victorian British and American Fictionand editor or coeditor of five additional books. She has also written extensively on 19th-century illustration and women writers.
