A Book of Scattered Leaves

Poetry of Poverty in Broadside Ballads of Nineteenth-Century England, Volume II

James Hepburn

The eight sections of this 2-volume set, comprising 66 ballads, focus individually on beggars and paupers; street children; the criminal poor; poor people in and out of work; poor young men and women finding betrayal, corruption, or casual or true love; poor husbands and wives making the best or worst of their situations; poor broadside poets describing their lives; and miscellaneous poor people enjoying themselves. Among the most substanital commentaires are a literary history showing the paring down and improving of 'The Virtuous Milk-Maid, c1760,' to make a broadside printing of 'Squire and Milkmaid, c1860,' and a comparison of 'The Dreadful Murder of a Wife and Six Children' with inquest documents and several broadsheet reports. Only the broadside ballad spoke significantly of social blame in the tragedy. Father and mother saw themselves facing starvation on the street or enforced separation from their children in the workhouse.

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 293 • Trim: 6¾ x 10

978-1-61148-134-1 • Hardback • 2 vol set • January 2002 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

Subjects: Literary Criticism / Reference

A Book of Scattered Leaves

Poetry of Poverty in Broadside Ballads of Nineteenth-Century England, Volume II

Hardback

Summary

The eight sections of this 2-volume set, comprising 66 ballads, focus individually on beggars and paupers; street children; the criminal poor; poor people in and out of work; poor young men and women finding betrayal, corruption, or casual or true love; poor husbands and wives making the best or worst of their situations; poor broadside poets describing their lives; and miscellaneous poor people enjoying themselves. Among the most substanital commentaires are a literary history showing the paring down and improving of 'The Virtuous Milk-Maid, c1760,' to make a broadside printing of 'Squire and Milkmaid, c1860,' and a comparison of 'The Dreadful Murder of a Wife and Six Children' with inquest documents and several broadsheet reports. Only the broadside ballad spoke significantly of social blame in the tragedy. Father and mother saw themselves facing starvation on the street or enforced separation from their children in the workhouse.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Bucknell University Press

Pages: 293 • Trim: 6¾ x 10

978-1-61148-134-1 • Hardback • 2 vol set • January 2002 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

Subjects: Literary Criticism / Reference

Author

James Hepburn took his degrees at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania. Among his academic books are The Author's Empty Purse and the Rise of the Literary Agent (1968), Critic Into Anti-Critic (1984), and Letters of Arnold Bennett (4 vols. 1966-86). He recently published Arnold Bennett and Amberley and he is preparing an edition of the social-political verse of John Morgan, chief broadside poet of nineteenth-century England.