Overview

Samuel Johnson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Hazlitt and Charles Dickens all worked as parliamentary reporters, but their experiences in the press gallery have not received much scrutiny. Nikki Hessell's study is the first work to consider all four of these canonical writers as gallery reporters, providing a detailed picture of this intriguing episode in their careers. Hessell challenges preconceived notions about the role that emergent literary genius played in their success as reporters, arguing instead that they were consummate gallery professionals who adapted themselves to the journalistic standards of their day. That professional background fed in to their creative work in unexpected ways. By drawing on a wealth of evidence in letters, diaries and the press, this study provides fresh insights into the ways in which four great writers learnt the craft of journalism and brought those lessons to bear on their career as literary authors.

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9781107442535

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Reviews

'In its careful scholarship and cogent arguments, Literary Authors, Parliamentary Reporters is highly useful for periodical scholars in several ways, and the book is a very welcome addition to our understanding of an activity crucial to the history of the press.' David E. Latane, Victorian Periodicals Review

'In its careful scholarship and cogent arguments, Literary Authors, Parliamentary Reporters is highly useful for periodical scholars in several ways, and the book is a very welcome addition to our understanding of an activity crucial to the history of the press.' David E. Latane, Victorian Periodicals Review '… a useful contribution to recent interest in Dickens as journalist. Hessell's demand that parliamentary reports be re-assessed within their precise historical context and her marshalling of evidence to establish that context, have considerable value. Dickens Quarterly

Author Information

Nikki Hessell is Senior Lecturer in the School of English, Film, Theatre and Media Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

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