Overview

This is the first contemporary edition of the scholarly writings of Jane Wilde, known as Speranza (1821–1896) and William Wilde (1815–1876), an edition of their selected poems, translations, travel writings, medical observations, literary criticism, folklore and political commentary. This project engages with contemporary scholarly interest in Wilde studies and on the influence of Ireland within the work of Oscar Wilde. As writers, intellectuals and Irish nationalists, Speranza and William Wilde themselves were key in the awakening of the Celtic Imagination with their innovative and ground-breaking work as scholars, folklorists and cultural historians of Gaelic traditions. The reputations of both Speranza and William Wilde suffered with their son’s disgrace and he was himself keenly aware of their impressive nature of their achievements, writing in his prison testament De Profunds, “She and my father had bequeathed me a name they had made noble and honoured, not merely in literature, art, archaeology, and science, but in the public history of my own country, in its evolution as a nation.” This anthology reclaims the writings of Speranza and William Wilde as part of the public history of Ireland in the nineteenth century.

Full Product Details

Author:   Eibhear Walshe
Publisher:   Clemson University Digital Press
Imprint:   Clemson University Digital Press
ISBN:  

9781638041733

ISBN 10:   1638041733
Pages:   282
Publication Date:   01 April 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

  Contents Speranza and William Wilde. ‘A Name They had made Noble.’ Introductory essay by Eibhear Walshe.   Section One; Words Become Their Weapons.   1840–1860.     William Wilde, A Voyage to Madeira, 1840.   ‘Jerusalem.’                 Speranza  Poems   ‘To Ireland’   ‘O’Connell.’   ‘France in ‘93’   ‘The Faithless Shepard’   The stricken land /The Famine Year   ‘Two Brothers’ Jacta Alea Est, The Nation, July 1948.   William Wilde, Austria 1843.   ‘The Lunatic Asylum.’   William Wilde, The Closing Years of the Life of Dean Swift 1849.   ‘Swift and Stella.’     Speranza  Sidonia the Sorceress  1849   William Wilde, The Beauties of the Boyne and the Blackwater, 1850.   The Battle-Field of Oldbridge – Duleek. William Wilde, Irish Popular Superstitions 1852.   ‘The Decline of the Irish Superstition.’   ‘The Mayday Festival in Ireland.                 Section Two Merrion Square. 1860–1874     Jane Wilde, Carleton, 1869.   William Wilde, Ireland Past and Present, 1864.   Jane Wilde, Poems, 1871.   William Wilde, Lough Corrib and its shores, 1867.   ‘Lough Corrib.’   ‘The Battle for Moytura.’     Jane Wilde, Memoir of Gabriel Beranger (with Sir William Wilde) 1880.     Section Three  Speranza in London 1880–1893   Jane Wilde, Driftwood from Scandinavia 1884.   ‘Berlin.’   Jane Wilde, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland. 1887.   ‘The Horned Women.’   ‘The Stolen Bride.’   The Priest’s Soul’   Jane Wilde, Ancient cures, charms and usages of Ireland 1890.   ‘The Irish Doctors.’   ‘Popular Cures.’   ‘Irish Proverbs.’   Jane Wilde, Notes on Men, Women, and Books 1891.   ‘Stella and Vanessa.’   ‘Tom Moore’   ‘George Eliot.’     Jane Wilde, Social Studies 1893.   ‘Poet as Teacher’   ‘Irish Leaders & Martyrs’   ‘American Women.’  

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Author Information

Eibhear Walshe (1962-2024) was a biographer and novelist, as well as Director of Creative Writing at University College Cork.

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