Posting It: The Victorian Revolution in Letter Writing

Golden, Catherine J.

ISBN 10: 0813033799 / ISBN 13: 9780813033792

Published by University Press of Florida, 2009

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Seller Inventory # D8S0-3-M-0813033799-6

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Posting It: The Victorian Revolution in Letter Writing
• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0813033799
• ISBN 13: 9780813033792
• Binding: hardcover
• Condition: New
• Book Type: book

About this title

Synopsis

Although 'snail mail' may seem old fashioned and outdated in the twenty-first century, Catherine Golden argues that the creation of the Penny Post in Victorian England was just as revolutionary in its time as e-mail and text messages are today. Until Queen Victoria instituted the Postal Reform Act of 1839, mail was a luxury affordable only by the rich. Allowing anyone, from any social class, to send a letter anywhere in the country for only a penny had multiple and profound cultural impacts. Golden demonstrates how cheap postage - which was quickly adopted in other countries - led to a postal 'network' that can be viewed as a forerunner of computer-mediated communications. Indeed, the revolution in letter writing of the nineteenth century led to blackmail, frauds, unsolicited mass mailings, and junk mail - problems that remain with us today.

About the Author

Catherine J. Golden is professor of English at Skidmore College