1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910809475903321

Autore

Richardson Edmund <1982->

Titolo

Classical Victorians : scholars, scoundrels and generals in pursuit of antiquity / / Edmund Richardson [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2013

ISBN

1-107-23667-3

1-139-61080-5

1-139-60907-6

1-139-61266-2

1-139-62196-3

1-283-98669-8

1-139-62568-3

1-139-20859-4

1-139-61638-2

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xvi, 227 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Classics after antiquity

Classificazione

HIS000000

Disciplina

937.0072/041

Soggetti

Classicism - Great Britain - History - 19th century

Great Britain Intellectual life 19th century

Great Britain History 19th century Biography

Great Britain Civilization Greek influences

Great Britain Civilization Roman influences

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

1. Introduction: the resurrection men -- 2. Old-fashioned ambition (a Victorian seduction) -- 3. In search of an empire of memory -- 4. The children of Babel.

Sommario/riassunto

Victorian Britain set out to make the ancient world its own. This is the story of how it failed. It is the story of the headmaster who bludgeoned his wife to death, then calmly sat down to his Latin. It is the story of the embittered classical prodigy who turned to gin and opium - and the virtuoso forger who fooled the greatest scholars of the age. It is a history of hope: a general who longed to be an Homeric hero, a bankrupt poet who longed to start a revolution. Victorian classicism



was defined by hope - but shaped by uncertainty. Packed with forgotten characters and texts, with the roar of the burlesque-stage and the mud of the battlefield, this book offers a rich insight into nineteenth-century culture and society. It explores just how difficult it is to stake a claim on the past.