Literature, Electricity and Politics 1740–1840: ‘Electrick Communication Every Where’ (Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine)

This book investigates the science of electricity in the long eighteenth century and its textual life in literary and political writings. Electricity was celebrated as a symbol of enlightened progress, but its operation and its utility were unsettlingly obscure. As a result, debates about the nature of electricity dovetailed with discussions of the relation between body and soul, the nature of sexual attraction, the properties of revolutionary communication and the mysteries of vitality. This study explores the complex textual manifestations of electricity between 1740 and 1840, in which commentators describe it both as a material force and as a purely figurative one. The book analyses attempts by both elite and popular practitioners of electricity to elucidate the mysteries of electricity, and traces the figurative uses of electrical language in the works of writers including Mary Robinson, Edmund Burke, Erasmus Darwin, John Thelwall, Mary Shelley and Richard Carlile. "Literature, Electricity and Politics 1740â#x80;#x93;1840"--"Acknowledgements"--"Contents" -- "List of Figures" -- "1 Introduction: Electricity, Spectacle and Figuration" -- "1 Benjamin Martin" -- "2 Imponderable Fluids" -- "3 Analogy and Metaphor" -- "Notes" -- "2 Experiment, Aether and the Soul of the World" -- "1 Isaac Newton" -- "2 George Berkeley" -- "3 Aether and Electrical Discourse" -- "4 Benjamin Franklin and Ebenezer Kinnersley" -- "5 Joseph Priestley and Adam Walker" -- "Notes" -- "3 Electrical Medicine, Feeling and Eroticism" -- "1 William Stukeley" -- "2 James Graham" -- "3 Robert Merry and Mary Robinson" -- "Notes" -- "4 Animal Electricity, Vitality, and Revolution" -- "1 Luigi Galvani and Erasmus Darwin" -- "2 John Courtney" -- "3 Conservative Alarm" -- "4 Reform and Progress" -- "Notes" -- "5 Electrochemistry, Matter and Life" -- "1 Humphry Davy" -- "2 John Abernethy, William Lawrence and Mary Shelley" -- "3 Richard Carlile" -- "Notes" -- "6 Epilogue: Michael Faraday and a New Electrical Era" -- "Notes" -- "Bibliography" -- "Manuscript collections" -- "Primary Works" -- "Secondary Works" Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. Introduction: Electricity, Spectacle And Figuration -- 1. Benjamin Martin -- 2. Imponderable Fluids -- 3. Analogy And Metaphor -- Notes -- 2. Experiment, Aether And The Soul Of The World -- 1. Isaac Newton -- 2. George Berkeley -- 3. Aether And Electrical Discourse -- 4. Benjamin Franklin And Ebenezer Kinnersley -- 5. Joseph Priestley And Adam Walker -- Notes -- 3. Electrical Medicine, Feeling And Eroticism -- 1. William Stukeley -- 2. James Graham -- 3. Robert Merry And Mary Robinson -- Notes -- 4. Animal Electricity, Vitality, And Revolution -- 7. Luigi Galvani And Erasmus Darwin -- 2. John Courtney -- 3. Conservative Alarm -- 4. Reform And Progress -- Notes -- 5. Electrochemistry, Matter And Life -- 1. Humphry Davy -- 2. John Abernethy, William Lawrence And Mary Shelley -- 3. Richard Carlile -- Notes -- 6. Epilogue: Michael Faraday And A New Electrical Era -- Notes. Mary Fairclough. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction: Electricity, Spectacle and Figuration....Pages 1-30 Experiment, Aether and the Soul of the World....Pages 31-75 Electrical Medicine, Feeling and Eroticism....Pages 77-119 Animal Electricity, Vitality, and Revolution....Pages 121-169 Electrochemistry, Matter and Life....Pages 171-221 Epilogue: Michael Faraday and a New Electrical Era....Pages 223-234 Back Matter....Pages 235-264