In 1828, Edinburgh University was the premier institution of medical science in the English speaking world. That created a demand for dead bodies to be dissected. Two enterprising Irish immigrants, William Burke and William Hare, saw an opportunity to go into business, and so became the United Kingdom’s first celebrity serial killers. Sources: The story … Continue reading 1828 – The Burke and Hare murders →

Much like Mary Shelley, Jane Webb was a teenager mourning a death in her family when she decided to write her first novel. And much like Frankenstein, that novel laid the foundation for many features of science fiction. But The Mummy! is more than just an imitation… Sources: Jane Webb Loudon, The Mummy! unabridged from Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/56426 … Continue reading 1827 – Jane Webb’s The Mummy! →

Mary Shelley’s third book was also her only other science fiction novel, the apocalyptic The Last Man. Sources: Mary Shelley, The Last Man (Oxford World Classics): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-last-man-9780199552351?q=the%20last%20man&lang=en&cc=us This episode features an audio clip from The Walking Dead season 5 episode 10, “Them.” Written by Heather Bellson, directed by Julius Ramsay, and starring Andrew Lincoln (AMC). The reviews of The … Continue reading 1825 – Mary Shelley’s The Last Man →

With her second published novel, Mary Shelley crafted an historical novel based on Dante, Boccaccio, and Machiavelli, and in so doing she took on works by Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Find out all about Valperga: or, The Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca. Sources: Mary Shelley, Valperga (Oxford World Classics): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/valperga-or-the-life-and-adventures-of-castruccio-prince-of-lucca-9780195108828?q=valperga&lang=en&cc=us … Continue reading 1824 – Mary Shelley’s Valperga →

With her second published novel, Mary Shelley crafted an historical novel based on Dante, Boccaccio, and Machiavelli, and in so doing she took on works by Sir Walter Scott, Lord Byron, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Find out all about Valperga: or, The Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca.

Source:

Shelley, Mary. Valperga. Michael Rossington, ed. Oxford: Oxford World Classics, 2000.

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0606801h.html

http://www.rc.umd.edu/reference/chronologies/mschronology/reviews/valpbw.html

Out of the thousands of adaptations of Frankenstein that have been made over the years, there is only one that we have a record of Mary Shelley actually seeing: Richard Brinsley Peake’s Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein. Sources: Jeffrey N. Cox (editor), Seven Gothic Dramas 1789-1825 (Ohio University Press): https://www.ohioswallow.com/book/Seven+Gothic+Dramas%2C+1789%E2%80%931825 Harold J. Nichols, “The Acting of Thomas … Continue reading 1823 – Richard Brinsley Peake’s Presumption →

Out of the thousands of adaptations of Frankenstein that have been made over the years, there is only one that we have a record of Mary Shelley actually seeing: Richard Brinsley Peake’s Presumption; or, The Fate of Frankenstein.

This episode features the voices of Steven Nelson and Mary Shelly as well as a very special appearance by Samuel Asimov Matzke.

Sources:

Cox, Jeffrey N. (ed.) Seven Gothic Dramas 1789-1825. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1992.

Nichols, Harold J. “The Acting of Thomas Potter Cooke.” http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Articles/nichols.html

Romantic Circles. “Novel into Drama and onto Stage.” http://www.rc.umd.edu/editions/peake/apparatus/drama.html

William Blake once said that John Milton was “of the Devil’s party without knowing it.” In this episode, we consider Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667), and its legacy among the Romantics, especially the poet and illustrator William Blake. To help me out, I interview my friend and colleague, Professor Rebecca Ariel Porte of the Brookings Institute … Continue reading 1822 – William Blake, of the Devil’s Party →

William Blake once said that John Milton was "of the Devil's party without knowing it." In this episode, we consider Milton's Paradise Lost (1667), and its legacy among the Romantics, especially the poet and illustrator William Blake. To help me out, I interview my friend and colleague, Professor Rebecca Ariel Porte of the Brookings Institute for Social Research. This being a Skype interview, the audio quality is less than ideal, but it's an illuminating discussion, touching on everything from the Devil's revolutionary politics to my own expecting parenthood.

Music for this episode includes The Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Killmonger Theme" from the Black Panther soundtrack.

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The poet, the novelist, the chivalric romancer: in this episode, we consider the three careers of Edinburgh’s favorite literary son, Sir Walter Scott. Source: The Walter Scott Digital Archive: www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/home.html If you enjoyed Andrew Ramsay as Sir Walter Scott, you can find him at: https://www.5by12films.com/ If you enjoyed Steven Nelson, you can check out his … Continue reading 1821 – Walter Scott’s Ivanoe →