To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books

To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books John-Erik Hansson Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Florence, 23 November 2018 European University Institute Department of History and Civilization To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans? William Godwin Through His Children's Books John-Erik Hansson Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Examining Board Ann Thomson, EUI (Supervisor) Stéphane Van Damme, EUI Pamela Clemit, Queen Mary, University of London (External Advisor) Gregory Claeys, Royal Holloway, University of London © John-Erik Hansson, 2018 No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author Researcher declaration to accompany the submission of written work Department of History and Civilization - Doctoral Programme I John-Erik Hansson certify that I am the author of the work 'To Teach Every Principle of the Infidels and Republicans?' I have presented for examination for the Ph.D. at the European University Institute. I also certify that this is solely my own original work, other than where I have clearly indicated, in this declaration and in the thesis, that it is the work of others. I warrant that I have obtained all the permissions required for using any material from other copyrighted publications. I certify that this work complies with the Code of Ethics in Academic Research issued by the European University Institute (IUE 332/2/10 (CA 297). The copyright of this work rests with its author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This work may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. This authorisation does not, to the best of my knowledge, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that this work consists of 87825 words. Statement of language correction: This thesis has been corrected for linguistic and stylistic errors. I certify that I have checked and approved all language corrections, and that these have not affected the content of this work. Signature and date: 6 November 2018 ABSRACT Focusing on the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century radical William Godwin, this thesis examines the relationship between children’s books and society by investigating the different ways in which authors try to bring about social change. The main claim of this work is that, in writing books for children, Godwin was attempting something radical and complex: to create a new kind of youth culture that was enquiring, knowledgeable and critical. A youth culture, therefore, that was likely to pave the way for the kind of social and political progress Godwin advocated in his better-known works such as the Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793). Often treated either as a way for a financially precarious, out-of-fashion radical writer to make ends meet or as illustrations of Godwin’s broader philosophical and political claims from the 1790s, Godwin’s books for children have not received sustained scholarly attention. This thesis, taking the form of an ‘intellectual history through children’s books’, seeks to show their significance in Godwin’s oeuvre and as cultural and literary artefacts of the turn of the nineteenth century. Godwin’s works for children are therefore contextualised at three different levels: (1) within Godwin’s own thinking, expressed in print and in unpublished manuscripts; (2) within the range of similar writing for children of the time; and (3) within broader late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century intellectual debates, particularly those concerning education, morality, religion and history. By contextualising Godwin’s children’s books in this way, this thesis (1) highlights the relationship between the cultural and intellectual worlds of children and adults; (2) clarifies Godwin’s broader lines of thought during the less well studied ‘middle period’ of his life; (3) examines in detail Godwin’s attempt to reform (or re-form) a whole generation of children as he sought to unseat common assumptions about morality, religion, history and society while more generally “awakening” their minds. CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION: 1 WRITING CHILDREN’S BOOKS IN SOCIETY GODWIN’S WORKS FOR CHILDREN 2 THE STUDY OF GODWIN’S WORKS 5 RE-THINKING CHILDREN’S BOOKS 10 METHODOLOGICAL MADNESS 13 THE THESIS OUTLINE 20 CHAPTER 2. GODWIN AND CHILDREN’S BOOKS: 23 FROM READER TO WRITER AND BOOKSELLER BEFORE THE JUVENILE LIBRARY 23 THE GODWINS IN BUSINESS: A VERU SHORT INTRODUCTION 26 “THE CRITICAL THOUGHT OF A TRADESMAN” 34 GODWINIAN PEDAGOGY: THEORY AND MATERIALITY 45 THE LIFE OF AN EDUCATOR, THE LIFE OF A BOOKSELLER 55 CHAPTER 3. STORY-TELLING: 57 GODWIN AS A FABULIST FOR AND AGAINST THE FABLE 57 QUESTIONING CONVENTIONAL MORALITY 62 THE FABLE BEYOND ITS (BLURRED) MORAL 72 CLOSING THE BOOK OF FABLES 84 CHAPTER 4. CHRISTIANS AND HEATHENS: 87 RELIGION, IMAGINATION, MORALITY CHRISTIANS: THE BIBLE, FOR THE USE OF CHILDREN 88 HEATHENS: FROM THE BIBLE STORIES TO THE PANTHEON 104 MAKING CONVERTS? 114 CHAPTER 5. HISTORY-TELLING: 115 REFORMING HISTORICAL EDUCATION THE VARIETIES OF HISTORY (1750-1830) 116 GODWIN AND THE COMPOSITION OF HISTORY (FOR CHILDREN) 119 TRUTH-TELLING AND HISTORY-TEACHING 131 CHAPTER 6. HISTORICAL REFORM: 141 POLITICS AND GODWIN’S HISTORIES ENGLAND (1): THE CIVIL WAR AND THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION 141 ENGLAND (2): THE KING’S LEGITIMACY CONTESTED 148 GREECE, ROME AND THE BRITISH POLITICAL IMAGINATION 152 A FRUSTRATING ENDEAVOUR? LESSONS FROM THE COMPOSITION OF THE HISTORY OF GREECE 166 SUCCESSFUL HISTORICAL REFORM? 169 CHAPTER 7. LIVES OF CHILDREN, LIVES FOR CHILDREN: 171 HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, EXEMPLARITY, IDEOLOGY THE USES AND USEFULNESS OF BIOGRAPHY 172 THE LIFE OF LADY JANE GREY: PERSONALISING ENGLISH HISTORY 177 “A CHILD LIKE OTHERS”: THE PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG BOY 187 ANOTHER REFLECTION: EXEMPLARY PARENTING 197 A GALLERY OF MIRRORS 200 CHAPTER 8. EPILOGUE 203 REFORMING THE YOUTH? GODWIN’S PROJECT AND ITS AFTERLIVES ACROSS TIME AND SPACE 203 CONCLUSIONS 208 WORKS CITED 215 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Alhough writing a thesis is a famously lonely endeavour, I have benefitted from the benevolence of countless people. None of this work would have been possible without scholarly guidance and encouragement. For their assistance in the earliest stages of my career as a researcher, I am grateful to Robert Lamb and Iain Hampsher-Monk. They supervised my MA work in Exeter and encouraged me to apply to the EUI. For her scholarship, conversation, engagement and comments on various parts of this thesis, I owe Pamela Clemit a deep debt of gratitude. I am also thankful to the second external member of my jury, Gregory Claeys, for his careful reading of my thesis and his valuable comments and suggestions. For their help along the way, I am grateful to Matthew Grenby, Rowland Weston, Michèle Cohen, Sean Brady, Grace Harvey, Jennifer Wood, Eliza O’Brien, Helen Stark, Beatrice Turner and Richard Gough Thomas. At the EUI, I am grateful to the members of the Intellectual History Working Group and particularly my fellow organizers, Alexandra Ortolja-Baird, Jakob Lehne, Brian Kjær Olesen, Annelie Große, Nicholas Mithens, Juha Haavisto, Thomas Ashby, Elias Buchetlann and Gertjan Schutte, who all contributed to my thinking about the discipline and my position within it, and who provided welcome and productive distractions during out meetings and workshops. I would also like to thank my second reader, Stéphane Van Damme for his helpful and enthusiastic comments on both the style and content of my thesis throughout my time at the EUI. I am espcially grateful to my supervisor, Ann Thomson, for her support, encouragement, guidance and much more. The general direction this thesis ended up taking was the result of our initial conversations, and even though I never expected to write an ‘intellectual history through children’s books’, I am glad and grateful I did. Writing this thesis was made possible by the generous support of different institutions. First of all, I would like to thank the EUI and the Swedish Vetenskapsrådet for funding this work. I am also grateful to the Maison Française d’Oxford for having me as a fellow, and to the department of History, Classics and Archeology at Birkbeck – especially Sean Brady and Joanna Bourke – for having me as a guest researcher and lecturer. The final words of this dissertation were written while I was a teaching and research fellow at the Université de Cergy-Pontoise, and I am grateful to the department of English there for providing me with enough time, space and financial security to finish the work I started in 2013. As any researcher, I am deeply indebted to the variety of workers who have facilitated my work. The librarians and archivists at the EUI library, The British Library, the National Library of Scotland, the Bodleian and Weston libraries, and the New York Public Library all contributed greatly to the elaboration of this thesis. In addition, I would like to thank all the support staff, the cleaners, baristas, cooks and admnistrative staff members of all these institutions (and the neighbouring cafés). That they did their jobs enabled me to do mine and this is a debt that can hardly be repaid. For distractions, emotional support, music and overall silliness, I would like to thank my friends at the EUI, in Paris, Oxford, New York and beyond. My time at the Institute would not have been half as enjoyable without the ‘VdG Appreciation Society’, the musicians of the ‘Mojo Music Club’ , my bandmates from Bourdieu Never Did This and The Amari, my fellow boardgame and role-playing nerds, or the usual crowd of Bar Fiasco.

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