Reading against Reform: The Bristol Library Society and the Intellectual Culture of Bristol's Elections in 1812*
Reading against Reform: The Bristol Library Society and the Intellectual Culture of Bristol's Elections in 1812*
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反对改革的阅读：布里斯托尔图书馆协会和 1812 年布里斯托尔选举的知识分子文化*
DOI：
10.1111/1750-0206.12725
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发表时间：
2024
影响因子：
0.2
通讯作者：
Smith J
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Smith J
本文通过对世纪早期英国城市选区的阅读政治、图书馆协会和选民的阅读习惯的分析，开创了一种研究选举政治的新方法。通过将对阅读实践和知识背景的考察整合到我们对选举竞争的分析中，政治史学者可以进一步考察未改革的选举制度，并试图衡量这一时期投票习惯和党派认同背后的动机。使用选举投票数据和城市订阅图书馆的记录，本文探讨了布里斯托图书馆协会和布里斯托的选举政治之间的相互关系，以及进行分析的书籍被借用和阅读的选民在政治动荡的一年。虽然与布里斯托的选民总数相比人数很少，但布里斯托图书馆的成员是布里斯托社会中最具政治和文化影响力的个人之一，并且积极参与该市的选举竞赛，无论是作为候选人，竞选者，公民官员还是选民。对他们投票习惯的分析表明，图书馆的成员资格反映了托利党在城市公民政治中的政治霸权。此外，对他们1812年阅读习惯的分析表明，他们对政治文本的兴趣是保守的和反高卢的，这些文本代表了1812年布里斯托的政治气候，也是导致改革候选人在选举中失败的原因。
This article pioneers a new methodological approach to the study of electoral politics by combining an analysis of the politics of reading, library association and the reading habits of electors in an English urban constituency in the early 19th century. By integrating an examination of reading practices and intellectual context into our analysis of electoral contests, political history scholars can go further in their examination of the unreformed electoral system and attempt to gauge the motivations behind voting habits and partisan identification in this period. Using electoral voting data and the records of an urban subscription library, this article explores the interrelation between the Bristol Library Society and Bristol's electoral politics, as well as conducting an analysis of which books were being borrowed and read by electors in a politically tumultuous year. Although few in number compared with the total size of Bristol's electorate, Bristol Library members were among some of the most politically and culturally influential individuals in Bristol society and were active participants in electoral contests in the city, either as candidates, campaigners, civic officials or voters. An analysis of their voting habits reveals that the library's membership reflected the Tory political hegemony that became pronounced in the city's civic politics. Moreover, an analysis of their reading habits in 1812 reveals an interest in political texts that were conservative and anti‐Gallic in tone, that were representative of the political climate in Bristol in 1812, and which contributed to the defeat of candidates for reform in its electoral contests.