Reading Beside the Lines: Marginalia,W.E. Gladstone,and the International History of the Bulgarian Horrors

This article explores the marginalia found in the personal volumes of William Ewart Gladstone in the context of the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–8). Diverging from previous narratives, which have lionised Gladstone for his apparently prophetic support for the independence of Christian subjects within the Ottoman Empire, this article argues that Gladstone read and understood little about modern South-Eastern European history, Bulgaria, or the Bulgarians before the publication of his influential political pamphlet, The Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. Gladstone's powerful interjection, based upon widespread, imagined categories of cultural understanding, directly influenced British foreign policy at a critical juncture with profound international consequences. Britain abandoned its traditional support of the Ottoman Empire - allowing Russia to wage a punitive war against its former ally - and instead supported the independence of the ‘Christian races’ of the Balkans along the budding principle of national self-determination. Gladstone's marginalia provide a unique linkage between studies of cultural languages of understanding, individual decision-making, the mechanisms of political power, and the construction of foreign policy. In certain cases, therefore, marginalia may help reveal the nexus between local histories of cultural production and major events in international history.     

Gladstone Studies

Charting recent ‘turns’ in history, towards empathy and ethics, this paper proposes reading Mayhew as a writer. The entry point proposed is Mayhew's What to Teach and How to Teach It: So that the Child may become a Wise and Good Man (1842), a book that charts Mayhew's theories of literacy and language, and of voice and writing.     

Matthew's Gladstone

The Gladstone Diaries. Vol. XII. 1887–1891. Edited by H.C.G. Matthew. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1994. Ixxxvii, 535 pp. ℒ65.00. ISBN 0198204639.
The Gladstone Diaries. Vol. XIII. 1892–1896. Edited by H.C.G. Matthew. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1994. ix, 486 pp. ℒ65.00. ISBN 0198204647.
The Gladstone Diaries. Vol. XIV. Index. Edited by H.C.G. Matthew. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1994. xv, 862, pp. ℒ65.00. ISBN 0198204655.
Gladstone, 1875–1898. By H.C.G. Matthew. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1995. xi, 421 pp. ℒ25.00. ISBN 0198204051.     

Eric W. Pasold,O.B.E.

Abstract

This article examines the clothing of the rural poor in seventeenth-century Sussex, considering what men and women wore, what their clothing was made of and where they got it from, drawing on a broad range of documentary sources including legal depositions, probate material and overseers’ accounts. As would be expected, the clothing of this social group was primarily functional, reflecting limited budgets and arduous working lives. But we can see in the choice of fabric colour, trimmings and accessories that men and women were concerned about their appearance and could achieve a measure of social display, at least in their ‘holiday’ clothes. The ways in which the poor acquired their clothes were complex, involving them in overlapping spheres of production and distribution, which included home production and shop-bought ready-to-wear, all accommodated within a range of economic survival strategies.     

Building an Historical Landscape,Commemorating W. E. B. Du Bois

The history of the W.E.B. Du Bois Homesite in Great Barrington Massachusetts is traced from the present to its earliest inhabitation after the arrival of Europeans and African captives. Social processes of class and race operating at different time scales have constrained the ways the members of Du Bois’s maternal relatives, and more recently private foundations and the public institution of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, have made use of the property. The Homesite figures in Du Bois’s memories of his childhood and was a source of pride during his 26 years of ownership. Telling its story backwards provides insights into how larger social and ideological forces affected individual actions, observations that provide guidance for future commemoration efforts at this National Historic Landmark site honoring the accomplishments of W.E.B. Du Bois.