‘The fire of patriotism’: the historiographical success of Lucy Hutchinson’s Memoirs in the nineteenth century 1
Fiche du document
6 juin 2023
- handle: 10670/1.ven9mv
- hal: hal-04565395
- doi: 10.1080/0268117X.2023.2195764
Ce document est lié à :
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1080/0268117X.2023.2195764
Mots-clés
Lucy Hutchinson Julius Hutchinson patriotism anti-catholicism puritanism nineteenth-centurySujets proches
Biographies Memoirs Life histories History--Biography Autobiography--History and criticism Memoirs Autobiographies--History and criticism Autobiography--Technique EgodocumentsCiter ce document
Claire Gheeraert-Graffeuille, « ‘The fire of patriotism’: the historiographical success of Lucy Hutchinson’s Memoirs in the nineteenth century 1 », HAL-SHS : histoire, ID : 10.1080/0268117X.2023.2195764
Métriques
Partage / Export
Résumé
When The Memoirs of the Life of Colonel Hutchinson were published in 1806 by Julius Hutchinson, they met with immediate and enduring success. The Memoirs’ instant popularity was indeed all the more paradoxical as neither Puritanism nor republicanism, which are both central to Lucy Hutchinson’s work, appealed to the general readership at the beginning of the nineteenth century. This article argues that the Memoirs owe their success to their forceful defence of England as a Protestant nation, as well as to Julius Hutchinson’s editorial choices and interventions. Lucy Hutchinson’s patriotism, copiously praised by the editor and reviewers, could ultimately explain why the Memoirs eventually became a nineteenth-century best-seller, capable of overcoming the Tory/Whig divide.