Legitimacy and Illegitimacy in Nineteenth-Century Law, Literature and History (Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture)

Animated By Scandals, Scoundrels And Imposters, This Collection, With Contributions From Prominent Scholars Of Literature, History And Law, Seeks To Address Issues Of Identity, Trust And Deception In Eighteenth- And Nineteenth-century Britain Through The Optic Of The Twin Concepts Of Legitimacy And Illegitimacy--provided By Publisher. Edited By Margot Finn, Michael Lobban And Jenny Bourne Taylor. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 7 Notes on Contributors......Page 8 1 Introduction: Spurious Issues......Page 10 2 The Barlow Bastards: Romance Comes Home from the Empire......Page 34 3 On Settling and Being Unsettled: Legitimacy and Settlement around 1850......Page 57 4 Unauthorized Identities: The Impostor, the Fake and the Secret History in Nineteenth-Century Britain......Page 76 5 The Fauntleroy Forgeries and the Making of White-Collar Crime......Page 102 6 Commercial Morality and the Common Law: or, Paying the Price of Fraud in the Later Nineteenth Century......Page 128 7 Dirty Laundry: Exposing Bad Behaviour in Life Insurance Trials, 1830–90......Page 157 Afterword......Page 182 Bibliography......Page 184 Index......Page 196 This innovative book draws together literature, law and economic and social history to investigate the meanings and uses of legitimacy in nineteenth-century Britain. This broad range of essays highlights the ways in which contested narratives and interested performances shaped the idea of legitimate authority during this period.