Monthly Archives: January 2012

Recent Acquisition: Speculations of the Uses of Sewage

Here is a recent aquisition to York University's Special Collections: a pamphlet from 1847 proposing various strategies of dealing with, ahem, night soil in cities. 
This pamphlet may be of interest to students studying city planning, environmental studies, water quality, public health, sanitation, and the living conditions of the working class in nineteenth century England.
The pamphlet [...]

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Recent Acquisition: Thomas Malory’s “The Birth, Life and Acts of King Arthur, Of His Noble Knights of the Round Table”

Here is a recent aquisition to York University's Special Collections: a luxury edition of Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d'Arthur, or, as published “The birth, life, and acts of King Arthur, of his noble knights of the Round Table, their marvellous enquests and adventures, the achieving of the San Greal, and in the end, Le morte Darthur with [...]

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Recent Acquisition: The Illustrated Family Journal

Here is a recent aquisition to York University's Special Collections: a bound volume of The Illustrated Family Journal from 1845.
Featuring numerous engraved illustrations and serialized stories to be read aloud in communal settings, The Illustrated Family Journal is a good example of popular literary periodicals sold for general consumption by the middle class. 
This volume of 21 issues [...]

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Recent Acquistion: Historical studies of Roma Travellers in Britain

Here is a recent aquisition to York University's Special Collections: a 1831 publication by James Crabb regarding the Roma and Traveller communities of Britain. The Gipsies' advocate  is an excellent example of a body of literature dedicated to the 'problem' of itinerant groups in nineteenth century Britain and efforts to reintegrate these communities into [...]

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Recent Acquisitions: Industrial Britain and reform movements

Here are a selection of recent acquisitions to York University's Special Collections related to Industrial Britain and social reform movements.
Octavia Hill's Homes of the London Poor is a reprint of a series of articles originally published in the Fortnightly review and Macmillan's magazine. Published in 1875 by Macmillan, Hill's observations of the living environment of London's [...]

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