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The books in this series are key examples of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century historiography which show how centuries of political, social and economic change were interpreted during the height of Britain's power. They shed light on the understanding of dynasty, religion and culture that shaped the domestic, foreign and colonial policy of the British Empire.

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70 results in Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, General

Page 1 of 4

A Descriptive List of the Printed Maps of Yorkshire and its Ridings, 1577–1900
  • Edited by Harold Whitaker
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    14 February 2013
    First published in:
    1933
  • Originally founded in 1863 to promote interest in the history and archaeology of the Huddersfield area, the Yorkshire Archaeological Society expanded its purview in 1870 to cover the whole of Yorkshire. In 1884 it began publishing its Record Series, which aimed to make historical information available through the reprinting of original documents, diaries, letters, and charters. First published in 1933 and reprinted for the society in 1971, this well-illustrated work is an extensive catalogue of maps of the Yorkshire area, drawn between 1577 and 1900. The editor's introduction sets the maps within the history of cartography in Britain, and in the context of pioneering work by previous cartographers. The entries give a description of what each map depicts, along with information on dates and dimensions. This work remains a valuable resource for local historians and geographers.

Letters of Constance Lytton
  • Constance Lytton
  • Edited by Betty Balfour
  • Published online:
    05 June 2015
    Print publication:
    13 November 2014
    First published in:
    1925
  • First published in 1925, this selection of letters throws light upon the life and character of Constance Lytton (1869–1923), a brave and influential figure in the movement for women's suffrage. From an aristocratic background, she became a member of the Women's Social and Political Union in 1909, calling on the support of her many contacts. Among her achievements was the first-hand exposure of the poor treatment and force-feeding of working-class women on hunger strike in prison: she deliberately had herself arrested and imprisoned in disguise and under an alias. Compiled by her sister, Betty Balfour (1867–1942), these letters cover her adult life, mainly comprising correspondence from Lytton to close family members, interspersed with illustrations of her and her family. Despite omissions - particularly details relating to her personal relationships - this collection remains an important tribute to her life and to the history of suffrage and prison reform.

A Guide to Diplomatic Practice
  • Volume 2
  • Ernest Satow
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1917
  • Recruited straight from university, Ernest Satow (1843–1929) became one of the most respected British diplomats, particularly in Japan, where he is still remembered. After a career spent mostly in the rapidly developing Far East, he retired in 1906. Just before the outbreak of war, he was asked to compile a work on international diplomacy, and 'Satow', as it has become known, was first published in 1917, and in updated versions has not been out of print since. Satow's work was pioneering, there being at that time no comprehensive study in English of diplomacy. Volume 2 concentrates on international conferences and congresses from 1648. Lasting weeks, and sometimes months, such gatherings were often, until well into the twentieth century, the only occasion when heads of state or government met face to face. We still live today with the consequences of many of these meetings.

A Guide to Diplomatic Practice
  • Volume 1
  • Ernest Satow
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1917
  • Recruited straight from university, Ernest Satow (1843–1929) became one of the most respected British diplomats, particularly in Japan, where he is still remembered. After a career spent mostly in the rapidly developing Far East, he retired in 1906. Just before the outbreak of war, he was asked to compile a work on international diplomacy, and 'Satow', as it has become known, was first published in 1917, and in updated versions has not been out of print since. Satow's work was pioneering, there being at that time no comprehensive study in English of diplomacy. Volume 1 covers the history of international diplomacy, its practice and legal matters, and is notable for the author's clear language, and the inclusion of often whimsical anecdotes to illustrate a point in discussion. Writing at a time of enormous international upheaval, Satow provides an illuminating insight into diplomacy before the age of instant communications.

Greater Rome and Greater Britain
  • Sir Charles Prestwood Lucas
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    09 December 2010
    First published in:
    1912
  • In later Victorian England, although classical literature had long dominated education, Roman history and politics became popular areas of study, particularly after Queen Victoria became Empress of India in 1877. Many writers on colonialism drew parallels between the Roman and British Empires, but Sir Charles Lucas' book, first published in 1912, went further in its analysis. He stresses that the causes of an empire's growth and strength are numerous, and that geography and technological development are particularly important. Like writers such as Froude, he attempts to forecast the future development of the British Empire. He also points out differences between the two empires. Roman expansion was not accompanied by widespread emigration, in the way that British colonists settled North America and Australasia, for example. British India, manifesting the military and economic domination of a much larger subject people by a tiny administrative class, bore more resemblance to Roman imperialism.

Studies in English Official Historical Documents
  • Hubert Hall
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    29 July 2010
    First published in:
    1908
  • This 1908 book was a ground-breaking guide for historians in the use and interpretation of official documentary sources. Hubert Hall examines the topic under three headings – archives, diplomatics, and palaeography. In the first part he treats the history, classification and analysis of English archives. He argues that the user should take into account what once existed as well as what survives. The second part deals with diplomatics, from Anglo-Saxon to the sixteenth century. He calls for greater critical analysis of the different types of official documents, something lacking in England when compared to European scholarship. The final part introduces the student to palaeography, and the different kinds of handwriting and contractions met with in official documents. While the book makes no claim to be the definitive work on the subject, it raised the profile of a neglected tool of scholarship, and offers a starting point for further research.

British Freewomen
  • Their Historical Privilege
  • Charlotte Carmichael Stopes
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    25 November 2010
    First published in:
    1907
  • Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (1841–1929) was a British scholar, a prolific writer and supporter of feminist causes. After becoming the first women to gain a Certificate of Arts in Scotland, Stopes published widely on Shakespeare and social reform, receiving an award from the British Academy in 1916 for her contributions to Shakespearian literary research. This volume, now reissued from the 1907 third edition, was first published in 1894. It contains Stopes' investigation into the history of British women's legal and civic rights. Through an analysis of state papers, parliamentary records and scholarly works on legal history, Stopes provides numerous historical examples of women holding extensive constitutional and legal rights, which are arranged according to the holder's social status. This pioneering feminist history became a key text used by women's suffrage activists to justify their position. For more information on this author, see http://orlando.cambridge.org/public/svPeople?person_id=stopch

Magdalen College, Oxford
  • T. Herbert Warren
  • Illustrated by Edmund H. New
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    26 August 2010
    First published in:
    1907
  • First published in 1907 as part of the celebrated 'College Monographs' series, Magdalen College, Oxford leads readers through the tumultuous and distinguished history of one of Oxford University's most famous institutions. Elected President of Magdalen at the early age of 32, for the rest of his life Thomas Herbert Warren nurtured a passionate enthusiasm for the college, its architecture and traditions. His delight in presiding over such a venerable foundation is evident in his celebratory account of its various 'worthy' alumni including Wolsey, Gibbon and Addison. However, his pride and loyalty did not prevent Warren from committing to paper a number of less prestigious but equally intriguing moments in the college's rich history. From the 'good cheer and bad speeches' experienced in Hall, to the 'delinquencies and debts' of undergraduates, and evidence of dons practising the black arts, Warren's volume still offers readers more than the average college history.

New College, Oxford
  • Arthur Octavius Prickard
  • Illustrated by Edmund H. New
  • Published online:
    05 April 2012
    Print publication:
    02 November 2010
    First published in:
    1906
  • Published during the golden decade before the Great War left an indelible mark on fellows and undergraduates alike, New College, Oxford (1906) is a sensitive and affectionate history of an ancient institution in a modern world. Himself a fellow of the college, A. O. Prickard conveys the image of an educational family whose purpose rose 'above the needs of the life of its members' in order to make a valuable contribution to both society and scholarship. Keen to promote the college's ongoing relevance in the new century, Prickard does not allow his fascination with its history to degenerate into nostalgia. As the author himself explains, Oxford is 'a place of visions and dreams, which float about, but do not encumber the earnest life of the present'. Such contentions combine with Edmund New's informal sketches to create an informative, picturesque and often surprising account.

Merton College, Oxford
  • Henry Julian White
  • Illustrated by Edmund H. New
  • Published online:
    05 April 2012
    Print publication:
    02 November 2010
    First published in:
    1906
  • The oldest of all Oxford and Cambridge colleges, Merton College enjoys a distinguished past that reflects many of the most significant moments in British history, including the Black Death and the Civil War. These and other crucial events are explored with wit and insight in White's chronicle of the college, first published in 1906. A biblical scholar, White was made a fellow and lecturer in theology at Merton in 1895, where he stayed until his promotion to Dean of Christ Church in 1905. Even after his departure, he remained intrigued by the history and customs of his old college and was eager to share his knowledge outside the academic community. Worldly as well as scholarly, White always intended his volume to be accessible to a wide audience, describing it in his preface as a 'popular handbook' rather than a scholarly tome; a function it continues to fulfil today.

Chronicles of London
  • Edited by Charles Lethbridge Kingsford
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    02 July 2015
    First published in:
    1905
  • First published in 1905, this work contains editions and discussion of three mid-fifteenth-century manuscript copies of London chronicles giving detailed insight into the city in this period. The volume was compiled by the respected historian Charles Lethbridge Kingsford (1862–1926), who published extensively on many subjects but was notable for his expertise on the reign of Henry V, which underpinned his appreciation of the importance of these chronicles. His scholarly introduction covers each of the London chronicles and discusses their manuscript copies, authorship, contents, dates and the intertextual relationships between them. The texts are accompanied by foliation and marginalia, and footnotes showing other manuscript variations. The appendices, containing details of texts drawn from each manuscript, include a list of lords, knights and gentlemen slain, and details of variations between manuscripts. This work also includes an extensive glossary, endnotes, and an index of names, places and topics.

A History of Agriculture and Prices in England
  • From the Year after the Oxford Parliament (1259) to the Commencement of the Continental War (1793)
  • Volume 7, 1703–1793, Part 1
  • James E. Thorold Rogers
  • Edited by Arthur G. L. Rogers
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1902
  • Since early times, agriculture has been pivotal to England's economy. This is the seventh in a magisterial seven-volume, eight-piece compilation by the economist James E. Thorold Rogers (1823–90), which represents the most complete record of produce costs in England between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. Drawing on a variety of sources including college archives and the Public Record Office, Rogers documents the fluctuating prices of commodities such as livestock, wheat, hay, wool, textiles and labour in a time of great economic change, when the growing economy of the early middle ages was shaken by famine and the Black Death, and then gradually recovered towards the Agrarian Revolution. First published in 1902 (completed and edited by Rogers' son), this two-part volume presents in Part 1 data from 1703 to 1793, showing the prices of a range of products; Part 2 consists of further documents collected by Rogers for the work.

A History of Agriculture and Prices in England
  • From the Year after the Oxford Parliament (1259) to the Commencement of the Continental War (1793)
  • Volume 7, 1703–1793, Part 2
  • James E. Thorold Rogers, Arthur G. L. Rogers
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1902
  • Since early times, agriculture has been pivotal to England's economy. This is the two-part seventh in a magisterial seven-volume, eight-piece compilation by the economist James E. Thorold Rogers (1823–90), which represents the most complete record of produce costs in England between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries. Drawing on a variety of sources including college archives and the Public Record Office, Rogers documents the fluctuating prices of commodities such as livestock, wheat, hay, wool, textiles and labour in a time of great economic change, when the growing economy of the early middle ages was shaken by famine and the Black Death, and then gradually recovered towards the Agrarian Revolution. First published in 1902 (and edited by Rogers' son), Part 1 presents data from 1703 to 1793, showing the prices of a range of products across the country; Part 2 consists of further documentary information collected by Rogers for the work.

The Amusements of Old London
  • Being a Survey of the Sports and Pastimes, Tea Gardens and Parks, Playhouses and Other Diversions of the People of London from the 17th to the Beginning of the 19th Century
  • Volume 1
  • William Biggs Boulton
  • Published online:
    05 September 2012
    Print publication:
    24 November 2011
    First published in:
    1901
  • Little is known about the life of William B. Boulton, who was active as an author in the 1900s. This illustrated two-volume set, published first in 1901 is perhaps the most famous of his works, though he also wrote biographies of Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. The work examines how popular entertainment in London changed dramatically between the restoration of Charles II and the accession of Queen Victoria. From cock-fights and bear-baiting, tastes turned to less bloodthirsty pursuits, and led to the rise of many leisure activities that are still popular today. Among the topics discussed in Volume 1 are gambling and masked balls, as well as opera and theatre during the period when women were first permitted to act on the public stage in England.

A Short History of British Colonial Policy
  • Hugh Edward Egerton
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    02 December 2010
    First published in:
    1897
  • Hugh Edward Egerton (1855–1927) was a British barrister and colonial historian. After graduating from Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1876 he was appointed private secretary to Edward Stanhope in 1885. His employer's promotion to Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1886 sparked a lifelong interest in colonial policy, which led to his becoming Professor of Colonial History at the University of Oxford in 1905. This volume, first published in 1897, contains Egerton's pioneering history of developments of British colonial policy. Focusing on colonial policy from 1457, Egerton explores the causes of changes in Britain's colonial policy, linking the importance of securing trade with the growth of systemic colonization and examining the rise and decline of laissez-aller attitudes in the mid nineteenth century. This volume was the first published historical survey of colonial policy, and continues to provides a comprehensive overview of developments in British colonial policy.

London Past and Present
  • Its History, Associations, and Traditions
  • Volume 2, E–O
  • Henry Benjamin Wheatley, Peter Cunningham
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    24 February 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • The bibliographer and editor Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838–1917) produced a prodigious number of books and articles on a wide range of topics, literary, historical, bibliographical and artistic. He worked for many years for the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Arts, was a founder member of the Library Association, and produced an edition of Pepys' diary which was not superseded until the 1970s. London Past and Present was published in 1891, expanding and updating Peter Cunningham's Handbook of London of 1849. It is a three-volume topographical and historical dictionary of London places and landmarks, and the people who lived there. Based on historical, literary and architectural sources, it reveals many fascinating details as it traces the development of the metropolis from medieval times to the time of writing. Nineteenth-century London was experiencing rapid change, and this work preserves the memory of many buildings now lost.

London Past and Present
  • Its History, Associations, and Traditions
  • Volume 1, A–D
  • Henry Benjamin Wheatley, Peter Cunningham
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    24 February 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • The bibliographer and editor Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838–1917) produced a prodigious number of books and articles on a wide range of topics, literary, historical, bibliographical and artistic. He worked for many years for the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Arts, was a founder member of the Library Association, and produced an edition of Pepys' diary which was not superseded until the 1970s. London Past and Present was published in 1891, expanding and updating Peter Cunningham's Handbook of London of 1849. It is a three-volume topographical and historical dictionary of London places and landmarks, and the people who lived there. Based on historical, literary and architectural sources, it reveals many fascinating details as it traces the development of the metropolis from medieval times to the time of writing. Nineteenth-century London was experiencing rapid change, and this work preserves the memory of many buildings now lost.

London Past and Present
  • Its History, Associations, and Traditions
  • Volume 3, P–Z
  • Henry Benjamin Wheatley, Peter Cunningham
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    24 February 2011
    First published in:
    1891
  • The bibliographer and editor Henry Benjamin Wheatley (1838–1917) produced a prodigious number of books and articles on a wide range of topics, literary, historical, bibliographical and artistic. He worked for many years for the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Arts, was a founder member of the Library Association, and produced an edition of Pepys' diary which was not superseded until the 1970s. London Past and Present was published in 1891, expanding and updating Peter Cunningham's Handbook of London of 1849. It is a three-volume topographical and historical dictionary of London places and landmarks, and the people who lived there. Based on historical, literary and architectural sources, it reveals many fascinating details as it traces the development of the metropolis from medieval times to the time of writing. Nineteenth-century London was experiencing rapid change, and this work preserves the memory of many buildings now lost.

The English Poor
  • Thomas Mackay
  • Published online:
    29 August 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1889
  • In 1889, British wine merchant Thomas Mackay published The English Poor, which espoused the ideas of Darwin and applied them to British social and economic history. An acolyte of social Darwinist Herbert Spencer, Mackay writes that human history has been a struggle between individualism and socialism, and argues that only through individual competition (not state social support) will poverty be eradicated. The opening chapters discuss the human instinct for property accumulation, primitive forms of society, elite control of workers during the plague years, and the growth of the proletariat. Later chapters discuss social legislation, the evolution of England's poor laws, and the Industrial Revolution. Finally, Mackay debates the scholarship of socialist Ernest Belfort Bax, bemoans the misguided ideas of Christian charity, and argues that the lives of 'lower types' of people have been prolonged by the poor laws. This is a fascinating document of late-Victorian economic thought.

Catalogue of the Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition, Royal Albert Hall, London, 1887
  • Compiled by Joseph Jacobs, Lucien Wolf
  • Published online:
    05 February 2014
    Print publication:
    20 September 2012
    First published in:
    1888
  • The pogroms in Russia following the assassination of Alexander II led many Jewish scholars in Europe to examine closely the history and culture of their people. Over three months in 1887 the Anglo-Jewish Historical Exhibition in London aimed 'to promote knowledge of Anglo-Jewish History; to create a deeper interest in its records and relics, and to aid in their preservation', while also determining 'the extent of the materials which exist for the compilation of a History of the Jews in England'. Artefacts illuminating this history, together with religious art and miscellaneous antiquities, were placed on public display and a series of lectures was given. Various academic enterprises, including the Bibliotheca Anglo-Judaica - also edited by Joseph Jacobs (1854–1916) and Lucien Wolf (1857–1930) and reissued in this series - were undertaken as a direct result of this important event. The descriptive catalogue of exhibits, first published in 1888, is also well illustrated with a number of full-page photographs.

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