My selection of resources relevant to those interested in the literature of the Long Nineteenth Century.

[1] Calendar

Calendar of dates from art and literature (kept up by The Long Victorian).

[Last updated: 01 March 2023]

[2] Book lists

1. GREATEST NOVEL LIST The Guardian newspaper’s (UK) 100 greatest novels of all time (2015).
2. FAVOURITE BOOKS The BBC’s The Big Read (April 2003). The British public nominated their favourite read and 200 titles were extracted and ranked. The webpage is archived but still accessible.
3. LIST FROM 1898 The Bookman produced a ‘100 Best Novels’ list. What makes it curious is that the list was published in 1898, i.e. it’s a Victorian “best novels” list. See this blog post.
4. UNIVERSITY LIST (USA) Columbia University’s Victorian Reading List and Nineteenth-Century American Literature List
5. REST OF THE WORLD’s VIEW An outsider’s perspective on the best in British literature. (7 Dec. 2015). ‘What does the rest of the world see as the greatest British novels? In search of a collective critical assessment, BBC Culture contributor Jane Ciabattari polled 82 book critics, from Australia to Zimbabwe – but none from the UK’.
6. META LIST – Greatest books of all time  Claims to be algorithmically generated from 130 “best of” book lists.

[3] Libraries:

The British Library’s excellent web resources on the Romantics and Victorians:

Authors – Works of literature – Themes – Articles – Videos

[4] List of authors (from Victorian Web) – Index – each linked to a biography/article.

[5] Organisations:

The Alliance of Literary Societies

[7] Online lectures (audio):

• Mini-series intended to introduce George Eliot to undergraduates (Oxford Uni). Introduction:  ‘A Very Large Brain’. 3 lectures: Mini-series.

• Great Writers Inspire. Inspirational short talks freely available to the public (Oxford Uni).  Includes: Oscar Wilde’s women – Rudyard Kipling – Sir Walter Scott – Charles Dickens’s points of view  – Charles Dickens Life & Influences – Jane Austen Manuscripts – Jane Austen ‘The Watsons’ – Wilkie Collins – William Blake

Also see The Long Victorian Youtube account (little on it yet, apologies).

[8] My favourite Bookshops:

Blackwell’s, Oxford

British Library Book Shop, Euston Road, London

Broadhurst’s Bookshop, Southport

Foyles, Charing Cross Road, London

Hatchards, Piccadilly, London

John Rylands Library – Shop, Deansgate, Manchester

Ken Spelman Bookshop & Gallery, York

Kirkdale Bookshop, Sydenham, London

London Review Book Shop, Bury Place, London [Includes a delicious cake shop! Slurp, burp]

Stanfords, Covent Garden, London (Travel bookshop)

Waterstones, Deansgate, Manchester

Waterstones, Gower Street, London (“Dillons University Bookshop”)

Waterstones, St Albans

[Plus market stalls – second hand shops etc.]

[This page was last updated: 22 March 2023]