Home
News
In Focus
Business
Metro
Nation
World
Sports
Feature
Opinion
View more »Opinion Columns
Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
Stray dogs in short supply as students rush in to walk them – at what risks?
Turning 60 but still working? How to encourage China’s retirees back to work
Sunday
- Subscribe
Related News
19th century papers reveal a similar world
Source: Agencies |
June 19, 2009, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THINK the heinous crimes, disastrous wars and seemingly never-ending financial scandals are something new? Then think again.
Courtesy of the British Library, readers can now immerse themselves in vivid newspaper accounts of a 19th century society that appears to have changed little from today's chaotic world.
Evocative descriptions of children as young as nine smoking and getting drunk, a banking collapse in 1878 and first-hand reports of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 can all be pored over for free online.
Some of the period's most celebrated authors, Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray are also represented, as is one of its most infamous villains: Jack the Ripper.
The digital archive, made available for the first time, comprises more than 2 million pages of 49 national and regional newspapers dating back to 1800.
Then as now, public drunkenness was often a problem, with public holidays triggering a rise in public disorder.
Under the headline "Whit Monday and Drunkenness," The Penny Illustrated of 1874 reported: "In the afternoon and evening it was impossible to walk along the streets of London without meeting drunken men - many of them inclined to be violent and disorderly."
Children who have been labeled feral and antisocial in the press today, appeared to display some of the same characteristics more than 100 years ago.
The Graphic, on June 13, 1871 reported: "Boys and girls, some as young as nine, working in brickyards were often seen smoking and drinking beer - drunkenness and brick-making seem inseparable."
The collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank, one of Scotland's largest, with 12 million pounds of debt, also rings a loud bell today.
The Aberdeen Weekly Journal, in February 1879, reported how one of the bank's directors, James Nichol Fleming, absconded on his yacht.
The paper described him as a "polished, gentlemanly man, a noted agriculturalist and breeder of Ayrshire cattle and Clydesdale horses, and a daring speculator in ships, public companies and blockade-running."
Even the Ashes cricket series against the Australians made the newspaper.
Picked from the Graphic, published in April 1877, the report said: "The news from the Antipodes, with details of certain matches, is very interesting, showing that the Australian cricketers have shown much excellent form against the English Eleven."
(Agencies)
Courtesy of the British Library, readers can now immerse themselves in vivid newspaper accounts of a 19th century society that appears to have changed little from today's chaotic world.
Evocative descriptions of children as young as nine smoking and getting drunk, a banking collapse in 1878 and first-hand reports of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 can all be pored over for free online.
Some of the period's most celebrated authors, Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray are also represented, as is one of its most infamous villains: Jack the Ripper.
The digital archive, made available for the first time, comprises more than 2 million pages of 49 national and regional newspapers dating back to 1800.
Then as now, public drunkenness was often a problem, with public holidays triggering a rise in public disorder.
Under the headline "Whit Monday and Drunkenness," The Penny Illustrated of 1874 reported: "In the afternoon and evening it was impossible to walk along the streets of London without meeting drunken men - many of them inclined to be violent and disorderly."
Children who have been labeled feral and antisocial in the press today, appeared to display some of the same characteristics more than 100 years ago.
The Graphic, on June 13, 1871 reported: "Boys and girls, some as young as nine, working in brickyards were often seen smoking and drinking beer - drunkenness and brick-making seem inseparable."
The collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank, one of Scotland's largest, with 12 million pounds of debt, also rings a loud bell today.
The Aberdeen Weekly Journal, in February 1879, reported how one of the bank's directors, James Nichol Fleming, absconded on his yacht.
The paper described him as a "polished, gentlemanly man, a noted agriculturalist and breeder of Ayrshire cattle and Clydesdale horses, and a daring speculator in ships, public companies and blockade-running."
Even the Ashes cricket series against the Australians made the newspaper.
Picked from the Graphic, published in April 1877, the report said: "The news from the Antipodes, with details of certain matches, is very interesting, showing that the Australian cricketers have shown much excellent form against the English Eleven."
(Agencies)
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
