Guidelines for Authors

Though known primarily for his work on muscle energetics, Archibald Vivian Hill, as discussed below, also made important scientific and pedagogic contributions to nerve physiology.     

On Trial—Social Relations of Map Production in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Britain

ABSTRACT

This article examines the social relations of map production in mid-nineteenth-century Britain with reference to moments when maps and their makers were ‘on trial’—legally in court in Edinburgh in 1853 and by public opinion in London in 1854 following a lecture. The principal protagonists include Alexander Keith Johnston of the map firm W. & A. K. Johnston, the German cartographer August Petermann, the mapseller Trelawney Saunders and John Bartholomew junior of the Bartholomew map firm. The article draws upon Thomas Gieryn’s idea of the ‘truth spot’ and on Matthew Edney’s call for studies in processual map history.     

Antimodernist Antecedents in Early Canadian Modernism: Archibald MacMechan’s “A Ballade of Canadian Literature” and F.R. Scott’s “the Canadian Authors Meet”

ABSTRACT

Archibald MacMechan’s regular column in the Montreal Standard entitled “The Dean’s Window” (1906–1933) is an important index to educated antimodernist literary values. MacMechan brought his reading of world literature into his appraisals of the Canadian scene, through his groundbreaking work, Headwaters of Canadian Literature(1924). In a 1912 “Dean’s Window” column, MacMechan, a published poet, opened with a poem of his own, “The Ballade of Canadian Literature,” which anticipated F.R. Scott’s “The Canadian Authors Meet”—itself a seminal work of early Canadian modernism. By no means binaries, the degree to which modernism and antimodernism could resemble each other is manifest in MacMechan’s and Scott’s poems, even though Scott’s poem eviscerates the Canadian Authors Association, an organization of which MacMechan was a founding member.     

Archibald Campbell and the Committee for Purity of Doctrine on Natural Reason,Natural Religion,and Revelation

Summary

This article discusses Archibald Campbell's (1691–1756) early writings on religion, and the reactions they provoked from conservative orthodox Presbyterians. Purportedly against the Deist Matthew Tindal, Campbell crucially argued for two claims, namely (i) for the reality of immutable moral laws of nature, and (ii) for the incapacity of natural reason, or the light of nature, to discover the fundamental truths of religion, in particular the existence and perfections of God, and the immortality of the soul. In an episode that had its peak in 1735 and 1736, a Committee for Purity of Doctrine of the Church of Scotland scrutinised Campbell's writings. It attacked the second claim as contradicting Calvinist doctrines concerning the universal guilt of mankind after the Fall, and the first claim as contradicting doctrines concerning justification and salvation, and as supporting Deism. The study of this episode reveals new aspects of how the struggle to define orthodoxy crystallised in philosophical and theological debates in Scotland at the dawn of the Enlightenment, and before the rise of the Moderates.     

Competing to Interpret “Foot Liberation”: Mrs. Archibald Little’s Anti-Footbinding Tour in Hong Kong, 1900

Known as the wife of the famous British merchant Mr. Archibald John Little, Mrs. Archibald Little left many writings on local Chinese customs and cultures. However, more renowned is her consistent advocacy for Chinese women’s emancipation from foot binding, not only by establishing a “Natural Feet Society” in Shanghai, but also by giving numerous anti-footbinding speeches in Chinese cities. One particularly noticeable speech was given in Hong Kong in 1900. It received significant reactions from different social groups. Using Mrs. Little’s own memoir and Hong Kong media coverage, we may be able to reveal the intertwined discursive competition surrounding the anti-footbinding movement. Motivated by a sense of mission to “enlighten,” Mrs. Little was a self-aware “civilized” savior. However, local newspaper reports on her anti-footbinding tour reflected little about the clash of civilizations but their exaggerated concern on the national subjugation and genocide. These two interpretations joined a competition to explain the anti-footbinding movement in late Qing China.     

Much Ado About Dugald: The Chequered Career of Dugald Stewart's Letter to Sir William Forbes on James Beattie's Essay on Truth

Summary

Although Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo's An Account of the Life and Writings of James Beattie has long served as an invaluable resource for those interested in Beattie's life and thought, there has been little scholarship on the genesis of Forbes's book. This article considers the role played by Dugald Stewart—as well as that of his friend, Archibald Alison—in the making of Forbes's Life of Beattie. It also examines the reasons for Forbes's decision not to print Stewart's letter in its entirety in the Life of Beattie and explores the letter's significance for understanding Stewart's philosophical development.