Literary Authors, Parliamentary Reporters
Literary Authors, Parliamentary Reporters
Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Hazlitt and Charles Dickens all worked as parliamentary reporters, but their experiences in the press gallery have not received much scrutiny. Nikki Hessell's study is the first work to consider all four of these canonical writers as gallery reporters, providing a detailed picture of this intriguing episode in their careers. Hessell challenges preconceived notions about the role that emergent literary genius played in their success as reporters, arguing instead that they were consummate gallery professionals who adapted themselves to the journalistic standards of their day. That professional background fed in to their creative work in unexpected ways. By drawing on a wealth of evidence in letters, diaries and the press, this study provides fresh insights into the ways in which four great writers learnt the craft of journalism and brought those lessons to bear on their career as literary authors.
- An original study of major authors in a new context
- Provides new attributions of parliamentary reports by Hazlitt and Dickens
- Of interest for both scholars of literature and of the history and methods of journalism
Reviews & endorsements
"...This is a useful contribution to recent interest in Dickens as journalist. Hessell's demand that parliamentary reports be re-assessed within their precise historical context and her marshaling of evidence to establish that context, have considerable value." Dickens Quarterly
Product details
December 2011Hardback
9781107013575
218 pages
235 × 161 × 17 mm
0.49kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- 1. Introduction: reporting and the individual talent
- 2. Samuel Johnson: beyond Lilliput
- 3. Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the freedom of the gallery
- 4. William Hazlitt and the real eloquence of the British senate
- 5. Charles Dickens and the ghost of speeches past
- 6. Conclusion: taking parliamentary reporting seriously
- Bibliography
- Index.
