Lyons Sara - Algernon Swinburne and Walter Pater: Victorian aestheticism, doubt and secularisation

ALGERNON SWINBURNE AND WALTER PATER VICTORIAN AESTHETICISM, DOUBT AND SECULARISATION

Victorian Aestheticism, Doubt and Secularisation

SARA LYONS

First published 2015

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Modern Humanities Research Association and Taylor & Francis 2015

ISBN 978-1-909662-48-3 (hbk)

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EDITORIAL BOARD

Chairman,

Professor Colin Davis, Royal Holloway, University of London

Professor Malcolm Cook, University of Exeter (French)

Professor Robin Fiddian, Wadham College, Oxford (Spanish)

Professor Anne Fuchs, University of Warwick (German)

Professor Paul Garner, University of Leeds (Spanish)

Professor Andrew Hadfield, University of Sussex (English) Professor Marian Hobson Jeanneret,

Queen Mary University of London (French)

Professor Catriona Kelly, New College, Oxford (Russian)

Professor Martin McLaughlin, Magdalen College, Oxford (Italian)

Professor Martin Maiden, Trinity College, Oxford (Linguistics)

Professor Peter Matthews, St Johns College, Cambridge (Linguistics)

Dr Stephen Parkinson, Linacre College, Oxford (Portuguese)

Professor Suzanne Raitt, William and Mary College, Virginia (English)

Professor Ritchie Robertson, The Queens College, Oxford (German)

Professor David Shepherd, Keele University (Russian)

Professor Michael Sheringham, All Souls College, Oxford (French)

Professor Alison Sinclair, Clare College, Cambridge (Spanish)

Professor David Treece, Kings College London (Portuguese)

Managing Editor

Dr Graham Nelson

41 Wellington Square, Oxford oxi 2JF, UK

www.legendabooks.com

At the time of publication, there are no complete modern editions of the work of Walter Pater or Algernon Charles Swinburne, though a complete edition of Paters works, and a substantial selected edition of those of Swinburne, is in progress under the auspices of Oxford University Press. In the case of Swinburnes poetry, I have referred primarily to The Poems of Algernon Charles Swinburne, 6 vols (London: Chatto & Windus, 1904), as representing the best currently available compromise between quality and completeness of edition. In the case of Paters writings, I have used modern scholarly editions wherever possible, and otherwise referred primarily to the original Macmillan editions. I have chosen to use Matthew Beaumonts 2010 Oxford University Press edition of Paters Studies in the History of the Renaissance, which reproduces the original 1873 text. It is this first edition, rather than the three subsequent versions that Pater edited and revised during his lifetime, which best enables us to grasp why the book generated controversy and came to be understood as a manifesto for aestheticism.

First, I am profoundly grateful to Catherine Maxwell, who has been all I could wish for in a mentor and a friend since this project began as a PhD thesis. I am also extremely grateful to Francis OGorman, whose support has meant a great deal; and to Ana Parejo-Vadillo and Nadia Valman, who have been very encouraging and who have asked probing questions at critical stages. I owe special thanks to Matthew Bradley, Mike Collins, Andrew Eastham, Ben Hickman, and Lisa Robertson, who kindly read all or part of the final draft and allayed anxieties at the eleventh hour.

This project would not have been possible without the generous assistance of a Westfield Trust scholarship from Queen Mary, University of London, and an Overseas Research Student Award, both of which are gratefully acknowledged. More recently, the sense of camaraderie in the School of English at the University of Kent has made many firsts feel less daunting. The list of colleagues I would like to thank is too long, but I particularly want to acknowledge Cathy Waters and Sarah Wood for their guidance and encouragement.

My multiple families Bowyer, Lyons, Moxham, and van Schaik have been invaluable sources of support, in most cases despite the tyranny of distance. I especially wish to thank Mark Bowyer, Jack Lyons, and Kate and Andre van Schaik. In addition, I want to thank Jenn Chenkin, Josh Edmonds, and Ben Levine for all their help and friendship.