Classics as souvenir
L.E.L. and the Annuals
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12936478 |
|---|---|
| Authors | J Wallace (0009-0009-3539-4760), John M Wallace (0000-0003-0800-8077, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 109-128 |
| Publication date | 2011-05-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Classical Receptions Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1759-5134 • E-ISSN: 1759-5142 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/crj/clq016 |
| OpenAlex | W2163951678 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
The literary annuals and gift books were a new publishing phenomenon in the early nineteenth century. Designed as souvenir Christmas presents, complete with sentimental poems, anthologisable prose extracts and attractive ‘embellishments’, the books catered specifically for a female readership and were symptomatic of the changes in literary taste in the period. While the subject matter of the anthologies was eclectic, a significant component, which has been neglected by literary historians and critics, was devoted to classical topics. This article considers this understudied area of nineteenth-century classical reception through a focus upon the work of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, known as L.E.L., who was one of the most celebrated and regular contributors to the annuals. As a commercially successful poet, L.E.L. offered a new commodified, feminine, and sentimental perception of the classical legacy. But, it is argued, her inclination towards cynicism and self-conscious belatedness – which has been termed an ‘Art of Disillusion’ – also produced a sophisticated and ironic comment on the place of classicism in the modern consumer age
Aesthetics · Art · Art criticism · Art history · Classicism · Cynicism · History of literature · Literature · Performance art · Period (music · Poetry · Publishing · Romanticism · Taste · Literature: history, themes, analysis · History · Law
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2013 - 2013 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |