'An indissoluble unity': considering the relationship between outward influences and the design of Birmingham's radical newspapers 1815-36

伯明翰是英国伦敦以外历史上最重要的印刷中心(Archer，2016)，但其报纸遗产没有得到重视，也没有得到充分的研究。在伯明翰创刊300周年之际，这项研究是理解该地区早期报纸印刷文化历史意义的及时一步。这项研究将从设计--版式、版面、插图、版式、纸张--的角度来探索激进报纸，以确定外部因素如何影响它们的外观，以及它们的设计能揭示出它们出版的政治和社会背景。它将建立在奥尔德斯·赫胥黎(Aldous Huxley)所描述的内在与外在、实质与形式之间的“不可分割的统一”(Huxley，1928)之上。呈现影响感知，然而，尽管它与内容联系在一起，但这份激进报纸的视觉元素尚未被探索。有没有可能确定伯明翰19世纪早期激进新闻中的一种特定的视觉语言，就像20世纪的地下新闻所确定的那样(卡普兰，2013)？地点和空间对伯明翰印刷文化的重要性已经确立(阿彻，2020)--激进报纸的创作环境是否以任何方式改变了它们的外观？对激进印刷文化的研究表明，形式或内容的变化可以追溯到不断变化的经济和政治条件。例如，政府反对无印花税的运动(Gilmartin，1996)迫使报纸出版商采用避税策略，促使当地激进分子乔治·埃德蒙兹(George Edmonds)将他的每周录音机称为小册子(Briggs，1949)。激进报纸的秘密性质是如何转化为它们的设计和制作的？虽然有几项关于伯明翰激进主义历史的研究(托马斯，2021年)，但提到激进报纸是偶然的。这项研究详细阐述了以前的研究，并将其直接与该地区的印刷文化以及伯明翰报纸不可或缺的专业、社会和政治网络联系起来。这种跨学科的方法为确定关键的背景信息提供了新的方法。它将排版分析与传统的历史方法、历史目录学、物质文化研究和场所与空间理论相结合。将这些学科结合起来将产生一个信息矩阵，这些信息将被审问，以了解材料来源(报纸)与其周围的非物质世界之间的关系。历史学家或当代评论家在研究印刷媒体与其外部环境之间的联系时，可以复制新的方法工具。这项研究将有助于讨论伦敦媒体的首要地位，并有助于得出关于伯明翰激进报纸全国重要性的结论。指示性时间表1-2年：BCU PGCert在研究实践中；上下文阅读；在档案馆和图书馆收集证据；制定方法；完善研究问题和原始材料；参与CPHC活动。3-4年：上下文阅读；在档案馆和图书馆收集证据；测试、提炼和应用方法；材料和数据分析；章节初稿；组织关于西米德兰报纸的会议；参与CPHC活动。5-6年：上下文阅读；研究结论；最后章节草案；参与CPHC活动。第7年：编辑和校对-准备印刷和装订论文

Birmingham is Britain's most historically important centre of printing outside London (Archer, 2016), yet its newspaper heritage is unappreciated and under-researched. With the 300th anniversary of Birmingham's first newspaper approaching, this study is a timely step towards understanding the historical significance of early newspaper print culture in the region.This research will explore radical newspapers through the lens of their design - typography, layout, illustration, format, paper - in order to determine how external factors affected their appearance and what their design can reveal about the political and social backgrounds in which they were published.It will build on what Aldous Huxley described as the 'indissoluble unity' between 'inward and outward, substance and form' (Huxley, 1928). Presentation affects perception, yet, despite its link with content, the visual elements of the radical newspaper are unexplored. Is it possible to determine a specific visual language in Birmingham's early nineteenth-century radical press, as has been identified in the twentieth-century underground press (Kaplan, 2013)? The importance of place and space to Birmingham's print culture has been established (Archer, 2020) - did the circumstances of the radical newspapers' creation alter their appearance in any way? Studies on radical print culture show shifts in format or content can be traced to changing economic and political conditions. For example, the government's campaign against the unstamped (Gilmartin, 1996) forced newspaper publishers to employ strategies to avoid taxation, prompting local radical George Edmonds to call his Weekly Recorder a pamphlet (Briggs, 1949). How did the clandestine nature of the radical titles translate into their design and production?While there are several studies on the history of radicalism in Birmingham (Thomas, 2021), references to radical newspapers are incidental. This study elaborates on previous research and links it directly to the region's print culture and the professional, social and political networks integral to Birmingham's newspapers.This interdisciplinary approach advances new methodologies for ascertaining key contextual information. It merges typographic analysis with traditional historical methods, historical bibliography, material culture studies and theories on place and space. Uniting these disciplines will create a matrix of information which will be interrogated in order to understand the relationship between the material sources (newspapers) and the immaterial world around them.The new methodological tool could be replicated by historians or current commentators when researching the connection between printed media and its external circumstances. The research will feed into discussions about the primacy of the London press and help to draw conclusions about the national importance of Birmingham's radical newspapers.Indicative timelineYears 1-2:BCU PGCert in Research Practice;contextual reading;evidence gathering in archives and libraries;develop methodology;refinement of research questions and source material;participation in CPHC events.Years 3-4:contextual reading;evidence gathering in archives and libraries;testing, refining and application of methodology;analysis of material and data;first draft chapters;organise conference on West Midlands Newspapers;participation CPHC events.Years 5-6:contextual reading;conclusions from research;final draft chapters;participation CPHC events.Year 7:Edit and proof-readPrepare thesis for printing and binding