Nineteenth-Century Communications: A Documentary History, 1780–1918

Karin Koehler is a Senior Lecturer in Nineteenth-Century Literature at Bangor University. Her research explores the relationship between nineteenth-century literature and connective infrastructure, focusing on Anglophone and Welsh-language material.Nicola Kirkby held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at Royal Holloway, London (2019-2023), investigating nineteenth-century infrastructure and literary culture. Her works include Railway Infrastructure and the Victorian Novel (forthcoming, Cambridge University Press).Kathleen McIlvenna is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Derby. Her research focuses on histories of work, health and retirement in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. Ellen Smith is a historian and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bristol. Her work explores communication cultures in colonial South Asia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Harriet M. Thompson is Visiting Research Fellow in nineteenth-century literature and culture in the Department of English, King’s College London. Her research explores the relationship between communications technologies and print culture.Eleanor Hopkins is a Senior Policy Adviser in Higher Education & Research at the British Academy. She provides strategic oversight of the Academy's Research & Development (R&D), innovation and skills policy.

• Volume 1: Reforming the MailsGeneral IntroductionVolume I IntroductionPart 1: Mail Coaches: From Novelty to Nostalgia1.1. Mail Coaches: Development and Early History 1. William Lewins, ‘Palmer and the Mail Coach Era’, in Her Majesty’s Mails (London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1864), pp. 73-93.2. Thomas Pennant, Letter to a Member of Parliament on Mail Coaches (London: Fauldner, 1792).3. Joseph Moser, ‘The Mail Coach: A Poem’, European Magazine and London Review, 24 (1793), pp. 298-300.4. George Robinson, Memorial for the Magistrates, Merchants, Ship-Owners, and Inhabitants of the Burgh of Banff, for themselves, and on behalf of the Others interested in the Line of Post-Road between Aberdeen and Inverness (Cullen, c. 1805)5. Illustration: Mail Coach on the Bath-London run collecting mail from Postmaster (right in nightcap) without stopping. Aquatint, circa 1840. Credit: World History Archive/Mary Evans Picture Library.1.2 Mail Coach Retrospectives6. William Roberts, ‘Mail Posts, Ancient and Modern’, Chambers Edinburgh Journal, 616 (18 November 1843), pp. 349-50.7. Extract from Thomas de Quincey, ‘The English Mail Coach’, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 66:408 (October 1849), pp. 585-600.8. Amelia Edwards, ‘The Phantom Coach’, in ‘Chapter V: Another lodger relates his own ghost story’, Mrs Lirriper’s Legacy, The Extra Christmas Number of All the Year Round, 12 (London: Chapman & Hall, 1864), pp. 35-40.Part 2: The Post Office before Reform2.1 Franking9. Pro Bono Publico, ‘On the Abuse of the Privilege of Franking Letters, enjoyed by Members of Parliament’, Edinburgh Magazine, or Literary Amusement, 51 (1 March 1781), pp. 240-1.10. ‘Outwitting the Post Office’, Literary Chronicle, 249 (21 Feb 1824), p. 124.11. E. Walford, ‘A Forgotten Mania’, Once A Week, 12:298 (11 March 1865), pp. 316-31712. Curiosus, ‘Franks and Franking-A Letter to the Editor’, Once a Week, 13:315 (8 July 1865), p. 842.2 Postage Evasion13. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, extract from Letters, Conversations and Recollections of S. T. Coleridge, 2 vols (London: Edward Moxon, 1836), vol. 2, pp. 113-14.14. Harriet Martineau, The History of England During the Thirty Years' Peace, 2 vols (London: Charles Knight, 1850), vol. 1, chapter 15, pp. 425-4272.3 Complaint and Improvement15. E.G.B, ‘Post-Office Receiving Houses’, Literary Chronicle, 6:246 (31 January 1824), p. 74.16. A.A., ‘Post Office Mismanagement’, Examiner, 14 December 1828, p. 5.2.4 Modernising postal architecture17. Frederick Ebenezer Baines, ‘Lombard Street’, in On the Track of the Mail Coach (London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1895), pp. 4-20.18. Charles Knight, ‘The History and Present State of the Post Office’, Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 3:116 (25 January 1834), pp. 33-3819. Illustration: ‘New General Post Office, St-Martin's-le-Grand', in Walter Thornbury, Old and New London: Volume 2 (London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878), p. 216. Credit: Mary Evans Picture Library.2.5 William Hazlitt’s The Letter Bell 20. William Hazlitt, ‘The Letter-Bell’, Monthly Magazine, 11:63 (March 1831), pp. 280-284.Part 3: Calls for Reform3.1 Henry Burgess’s Plan 21. Henry Burgess, extracts from A Plan for Obtaining a More Speedy Communication between London and the Distant Parts of the Kingdom (London, 1819), pp. 1-14, 22-28, 32-34, 38-44.3.2 Robert Wallace in the House of Commons22. Robert Wallace, extract from speech on the Post Office, 06 August 1833, Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, 3rd Series, Vol. XX (London: Hansard, 1833), cd. 369, 371, 375.23. Robert Wallace, extract from speech on the Post Office, 26 June 1834, Hansard’s Parliamentary Debates, 3rd Series, Vol. XXIV (London: Hansard, 1834), pp. 855-857, 859-861, 863-865.3.3 Rowland Hill and Post Office Reform24. Rowland Hill, extracts from Post Office Reform: its Importance and Practicability, 3rd edition (London: C. Knight, 1837), pp. 1-2, 4-8, 12-15, 16-30, 32-34, 38-43, 45-47.Part 4: Debating Universal Penny Postage25. W. H. Ashurst, extract from Facts and Reasons in Support of Mr Rowland Hill’s plan for a universal penny postage, 2nd edition (London: Henry Hooper, 1838), pp. 1-3, 6-7, 30, 32- 34, 58- 59, 66-68, 74-76, 107-110.26. Extract from 'Postage Duties’, House of Lords debate held on 5 August 1839, in Mirror of Parliament (London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans; John Murray; J. Richards and Co, 1839), cc, 4667-4668, 4671-4672, 4676, 4678, 4680-4681.4.1 Penny Postage in the Monthly Reviews27. Anon., extract from ‘Post-office Reform: its Importance and Practicability', Quarterly Review, 64 (October 1839), pp. 513-54028. Anon., ‘Post Office Reform’, Edinburgh Review, 70 (January 1840), pp. 545-573. 4.2 Popular Print and Visual Culture29. Henry Cole., A Report of a scene at Windsor Castle respecting the uniform Penny Postage. [A skit.]. (1839)30. Illustration: ‘A poster petitioning for a uniform penny postage’, 1839. Credit: Mary Evans Picture Library/Bruce Castle Museum.31. Anon., ‘Only a Postage (A Tale Illustrative of the High Effects of Postage’), in Post Circular, (30 April 1839), p. 60.32. Anon., ‘General Penny Postage; or, Troubles of Men of Letters’, Post 11/195. Postal Archive.Part 5: Responding to Reform5.1 Celebrations in Verse and Song33. James Bruton, ‘The penny post act!’ Comic song sung by Mr. Buckingham at the Royal Gardens, Vauxhall. Written by Jas. Bruton. The music composed by J. Blewitt. James Bruton (London: T.E. Purday, [1840])34. Philodenarius, ‘The Penny Post’, Times, 2 April 1840, p. 5.35. Vialls, ‘The Penny Postage’, Odd Fellow, 15 February 1840, p. 336. Anon, ‘The Penny Postage’, Norwich Mercury, 25 January 1840, p. 3.37. Illustration: Anon, ‘Hurrah for the Postman the great Roland Hill’ (Leith: R.W. Hume). Credit: National Library Scotland38. Alexander Smart, ‘Lines on the Penny-Post, Addressed to Rowland Hill, Esq.’, Scotsman, 25 December 1840, p. 4.39. G.D., ‘Lines on the Penny Post’, Literary Gazette, 27 August 1842, p. 606.5.2 Harriet Martineau 40. Harriet Martineau, letter to Sir Thomas Wilde, 15 May 1843, in Pearson Hill, The Post Office of Fifty Years Ago (London: Cassell, 1887), pp. 44-48.41. Extract from Harriet Martineau, The History of England During the Thirty Years' Peace, 1816-1846, 2 vols. (London: Charles Knight, 1849-1850), vol. 2 1830-1846, pp. 427-431.5.3 Roland Hill and the 1843 Select Committee42. Rowland Hill, evidence given to Report from the Select Committee on Postage, together with the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index (House of Commons, 14 August 1843), pp. 9-15.5.4 The Penny Post in magazines43. Hall, S.C, ‘The Penny-Post’, Sharpe’s London Magazine, 7, July 1848, 246-7.5.5 Retrospectives44. ‘Sir Rowland Hill and His Services’, Birmingham Daily Post, 3 March 1864., p.6 45. ‘In Memoriam. Rowland Hill, Originator of Cheap Postage’, Punch 77 (20 September 1879), in Pearson Hill, The Post Office of Fifty Years Ago (London: Cassell, 1887), pp. 38-40.46. ‘The Jubilee of the Penny Post’, Punch, 18 January 1890, in Account of the Celebration of the Jubilee of the Uniform Inland Penny Postage at the Venetian Chamber (London: Jubilee Celebration Committee, 1891), pp. 42-3.47. Frederic Hill, ‘Some Reminiscences’, in Account of the Celebration of the Jubilee of the Uniform Inland Penny Postage at the Venetian Chamber (London: Jubilee Celebration Committee, 1891), pp. 33-41.48. ‘Arbroath and the Penny Postage’, Arbroath Herald, 3 May 1918, p. 4.49. ‘Penny Postage’, Welsh Gazette, 6 June 1918, p. 4.50. Extract from ‘Penny Postage’, South London Observer, 8 June 1918, p. 2Part 6: Surveillance and Privacy6.1 Politics and Postal Espionage51. Charles James Fox, ‘Mr Sheridan’s Motion Relative to the Existence of Seditious Practices in this Country’, in The Speeches of the Right Honourable Charles James Fox, 6 vols (London: Longman, 1815), vol. 5, pp. 58-62.52. ‘Extraordinary Post-Office Order’, Examiner, 870 (3 October 1824), p. 629.53. ‘When a Man Puts a Letter in the Post’, The Evening Sun, 15 June 1844, p. 6.6.2 The Letter Opening Scandal in the Popular Imagination54. Illustration: H.G. Hine, ‘The Anti-Graham Wafers’, in Marion Harry Spielmann, The History of Punch (London: Cassell and Company Limited, 1895), p. 117. Image reproduced by kind permission of the National Library of Scotland55. Illustration: John Leech, ‘The Anti-Graham Envelope’, in in Marion Harry Spielmann, The History of Punch (London: Cassell and Company Limited, 1895), p. 115. Image reproduced by kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.56. ‘The Secret Chamber in the General Post Office, St-Martin’s-Le-Grand’, London Journal and Weekly Record of Literature, Science, and Art, 15 March 1845, pp. 33-34.57. G.M. Reynolds, extracts from The Mysteries of London (London: George Vickers, 1846), vol 1, chapters 29, pp. 75-78, 72, pp. 221-224, 83, pp. 248-250.6.3 Privacy, Gender, and Sexuality58. Anthony Trollope, extract from ‘Chapter VI: Shewing How Reconciliation was made’, He Knew He Was Right, Vol 1 (London: Strathan and Co, 1869), pp. 38-44.59. ‘Letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne’, Saturday Review, 45:1164, (16 February 1878), p. 216-17.60. Oscar Wilde, ‘On the Sale by Auction of Keats’ Love Letters’, in William Sharp, ed. Sonnets of this Century (London: Walter Scott, 1886), p. 252Part 7: Seeing the State at Work: Infrastructures of Reform in Material and Print Culture 7.1 Postal Process Articles61. Charles Dickens and William Henry Wills, ‘Valentine’s Day at the Post Office’, Household Words (30 March 1850), pp. 6-12.62. Francis Bond Head, extract from ‘Mechanism of the Post Office’, Quarterly Review (June 1850), pp 80-2, 83-88.63. William John Gordon, ‘A Day at the Post Office’, Leisure Hour (Jan 1886), pp. 31-38.7.2 The Penny stamp64. ‘Art. VIII. On the Collection of Postage by Means of Stamps’, London and Westminster Review, 33:2 (March 1840) pp. 491-505.65. Illustration: ‘Evolution of the Design for the First Adhesive Postage Stamp’. Postal Archive Post 118/1952.66. ‘Something about Postage Stamps’, Leisure Hour, 397 (4 August 1895), pp. 489-492.67. ‘The Stamp Mania’, Chambers’s Journal, 492, (6 June 1863), pp.353-356.68. ‘A Row about a Postage Stamp’, Reynold’s Miscellany, 39:997 (20 July 1867), p. 79.7.3 Mulready Wrapper69. Illustration. 2d Mulready envelope, registration sheet. The Postal Archive POST 150/00970. T. Martin Wears, The History of the Mulready Envelope (Bury St. Edmunds: T. H Nunn, 1886) pp. 17-20, 26-32.7.4 Post-boxes71. Documents relating to the introduction of Pillar Boxes on Jersey and Guernsey, including copy of original minute by Anthony Trollope and subsequent internal correspondence, Guernsey, 31 November 1851. Post 30/129.72. ‘Pillar Letter-Boxes in the Metropolis’, London Evening Standard, 16 October 1854, p. 3.73. Illustration: 'The New Post-Office Letter-Box, at the Corner of Fleet-Street and Farringdon-Street', in 'New Street Letter-Boxes', Illustrated London News, 24 March 1855, p. 280. Credit: Illustrated London News Ltd./Mary Evans Picture Library.74. Robert Black, ‘The Wrong Pillar-Box’, Chambers’s Journal, 551, (18 July 1874), p. 455-458.BibliographyIndex