Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
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Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
@rs4vp.org
590 followers 460 following 110 posts
An organization dedicated to researching and teaching about newspapers, magazines, and serial print forms in Britain and its empire throughout the long nineteenth century.
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rs4vp.org
Happy Holidays from RSVP! Our gift 🎁 to you is the debut of a new interview series, starting with @patrickleary.bsky.social, who sat down with @c19thnewshound.bsky.social this past year to discuss "Getting Started with Periodicals Research." Stay tuned for more in 2026! rs4vp.org/introducing-...
Introducing A New Interview Series – RSVP
We're launching a new series of interviews of senior RSVP members, who will discuss their advice for researching 19th-century periodicals.
rs4vp.org
December 23, 2025 at 10:18 PM
rs4vp.org
We are delighted to announce Professor Martin Hewitt (@vicmanch.bsky.social) as our next Editor for the Curran Index! He will begin his tenure 1 Jan. 2026. Congratulations and welcome aboard, Professor Hewitt! 🎉https://rs4vp.org/introducing-next-curran-index-editor/
Introducing Our Next Editor for the Curran Index – RSVP
RSVP is delighted to announce Martin Hewitt as our incoming Curran Index editor! Professor Hewitt will begin his tenure on 1 January 2026.
rs4vp.org
December 19, 2025 at 6:12 PM
rs4vp.org
Our last #RSVPDigiEvent of 2025 with Priyasha Mukhopadhyay is now live on our YouTube channel! Thanks to Sarah Bliss for moderating, Priyasha for piquing our collective curiosity, and to all who attended! Stay tuned for more RSVP Digital Events in the new year! youtu.be/PfO8pLlQgkc
"Reading for Time," A Talk by Priyasha Mukhopadhyay
In this #RSVPDigiEvent (our last of 2025!), we hear from Priyasha Mukhopadhyay (Yale University) about her award-winning new book, Required Reading: The Life of Everyday Texts in the British Empire…
youtu.be
December 16, 2025 at 8:38 PM
rs4vp.org
Heading to #MLA26 in Toronto? Why not stop by RSVP's sponsored panel, "Materials and Methods in Periodical Studies” on Friday evening? Details about our featured panelists and their talks on our website. Come one, come all! rs4vp.org/rsvp-mla-2026/
RSVP at the MLA 2026! – RSVP
Come hear our members talk about periodicals at the RSVP-sponsored panel at the upcoming MLA conference on Friday, January 9!
rs4vp.org
December 16, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
vpreditors.bsky.social
In VPR 58.2, Atul V. Nair examines how the Anglo-Indian "Calcutta Review" debated the value of Indian literatures with other Indian and British #periodicals. Learn how the CR used evangelical ideals to contest the authority of Orientalism in the 1840s-50s: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl... @rs4vp.org
On left, burgundy background with text that says: Atul V. Nair, “Literary Evangelicalism: The Calcutta Review and the Imperial Anglophone Periodical Circuit,” Victorian Periodicals Review, volume 58, number 2, summer 2025. On right, image of masthead followed by lead article of Calcutta Review 3, no. 5 (1845): 1, HathiTrust Digital Library, https://hdl.handle.net/2027/inu.32000013013505.
December 16, 2025 at 4:51 PM
rs4vp.org
Happy Friday! Some light reading to enliven your weekend: a retrospective on the "Pictorial Punch: Treasures from the Archive" study day by our friends @punchspocketbook.bsky.social in November. Several candid photos from the day included! Thanks for #SharingYourNews!
rs4vp.org/pictorial-pu...
Pictorial Punch: Treasures from the Archive – RSVP
The Punch's Pocket Book Archive team shares a retrospective on their one-day study day hosted at the British Library on 7 November 2025.
rs4vp.org
December 12, 2025 at 10:20 PM
rs4vp.org
Applications due December 15!
kmalonephd.bsky.social Katherine Malone @kmalonephd.bsky.social · 15d
Hey #periodicals scholars-- Are you interested in joining our editorial team at @vpreditors.bsky.social? There's still time to apply for the Associate Editor position. Details available at rs4vp.org/vpr-seeks-as... @rs4vp.org
December 12, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
vpreditors.bsky.social
In VPR 58.2, @kyleeanneh.bsky.social traces reproductions of F.W. Burton’s 1840 watercolor “A Blind Girl at A Holy Well” to consider how #periodicals deployed its sentimental depiction of blindness in mid-century debates about Irish culture and nationhood: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl... @rs4vp.org
On left, burgundy background with text that says: Kylee-Anne Hingston, “Blindness and Irish National Identity in the Textual Afterlife of F. W. Burton’s A Blind Girl at a Holy Well,” Victorian Periodicals Review, volume 58, number 2, summer 2025. On right, The Blind Girl at the Holy Well, ca. 1869, print, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, https://lccn.loc.gov/2003674284.
December 11, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Reposted by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
vpreditors.bsky.social
NEW ISSUE ALERT! You won’t want to miss these articles on China in the ILN, the textual afterlife of F. W. Burton’s A Blind Girl at a Holy Well, the Calcutta Review and the imperial anglophone periodical circuit, and images of Welsh seaside tourism in Punch. muse.jhu.edu/issue/55969 @rs4vp.org
Cover of Victorian Periodicals Review, volume 58, number 2, summer 2025; covert art is “Portrait of a Soldier, in His Full Uniform.” William Alexander, The Costume of China (London: W. Bulmer for W. Miller, 1805), 83. Public Domain Mark. Wellcome Collection. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/mqtz7ays.
December 4, 2025 at 6:54 PM
rs4vp.org
📽️ The recording from our widely popular #RSVPDigiEvent "How to Get Published in an Academic Journal" is now live. We had a record-breaking 101 registrants for this panel! Since we did not quite hit that number in attendance, we know many will be interested to watch/re-watch: youtu.be/sP5Y1iicKJ0
How to Get Published in Academic Journal
YouTube video by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 7:37 PM
rs4vp.org
🎶 "Tomorrow, tomorrow / I'll send my #RSVP2026 proposal in!" That's right, proposals to our upcoming conference, "Movements & Migrations," are due tomorrow at 11:59 p.m. PST. The conference will be held in Dublin 23-25 July 2026. All proposals should be sent via our online portal.
2026 RSVP Conference Paper Submission Form - The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals (RSVP)
Application portal
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November 20, 2025 at 2:15 PM
rs4vp.org
What treasures can a Peterson Fellowship unearth? Robert Burroughs shares some outcomes from his research on #19thC Black British editor, S. J. Celestine Edwards, which was supported by his 2023 Peterson Fellowship award. Thanks for #SharingYourNews, Robert! rs4vp.org/new-work-on-...
New Work on Britain's First Black Newspaper Editor – RSVP
Robert Burroughs shares the outcomes of his 2023 Peterson Fellowship award on Britain's first Black newspaper editor, S. J. Celestine Edwards
rs4vp.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:25 PM
rs4vp.org
We're at it again!!
vpreditors.bsky.social Victorian Periodicals Review @vpreditors.bsky.social · Nov 17
VPR is seeking an Associate Editor to oversee book reviews and assist the editor with special features. This is a great opportunity for a #periodicals scholar looking to develop editorial and leadership skills. Applications are due December 15. Details at rs4vp.org/vpr-seeks-as... @rs4vp.org
Illustration of man waving newspaper above logo for Victorian Periodicals Review. Text says: We’re hiring an associate editor to oversee book reviews and assist the editor with content development. Applications are due December 15. For more information, visit: https://rs4vp.org/vpr-seeks-associate-editor
November 19, 2025 at 12:55 PM
rs4vp.org
Just 6 days left to get your #RSVP2026 proposals in! We hope you'll contemplate "Movements & Migrations" in and through the #19thC periodical press with us this summer @tcddublin.bsky.social. Our CFP deadline is THIS upcoming Friday, 21 November!
RSVP Annual Conference – RSVP
The nineteenth century was marked by unprecedented migration, as people moved to urban centers; were forcibly or semi-forcibly relocated; and emigrated to escape war, famine, economic instability, or…
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November 16, 2025 at 1:15 PM
rs4vp.org
📖 Colby Book Prize nominations open today! We're accepting nominations from now until 31 Jan. 2026. The Colby Prize recognizes original book-length scholarship published in 2025 that most advances our understanding of the long #19thC British press. More info: buff.ly/LIi76WJ
The Robert and Vineta Colby Scholarly Book Prize – RSVP
The Colby Book Prize was endowed in 2006 in memory of Robert Colby by his wife, Vineta Colby, distinguished scholars and long-time members of RSVP. In 2011, following Vineta’s death, the Board of…
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November 15, 2025 at 3:49 PM
rs4vp.org
Mystified by how to approach an academic journal editor? Need help getting through the "revise and resubmit" doldrums? Our next #RSVPDigiEvent can help! Join us next Friday, Nov. 21 and hear from the editors of top #Victorian journals on "How to Get Published in a Academic Journal": buff.ly/ydJkKAK
How to Get Published in an Academic Journal – RSVP
Join us Friday, November 21 for a special professional development session on how to get published in an academic journal!
buff.ly
November 14, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
triproftri.bsky.social
Any thoughts?
@rs4vp.org
@patrickleary.bsky.social
@lindseckert.bsky.social
@pritijoshi.bsky.social

#victorianperiodicals #periodicals
triproftri.bsky.social Kathy Harris @triproftri.bsky.social · Nov 14
Building a spreadsheet of every pg in 83 vols of literary annuals w/ 300-400pp, 40 to 50 literary texts & 10 to 12 engravings. Stumbled on this engraving in 1833 Forget Me Not. Accompanying short story =ekphrastic rendering of engraving. Never seen a Black woman portrayed in this way in annuals 🤯
Engraving entitled Uncle Anthony's blunder from the 1833 Forget Me Not. An unusual scene of a black woman and a white man touching. Steel plate engraving in a Duodecimo volume
November 14, 2025 at 2:09 AM
rs4vp.org
Reminder that Peterson Fellowships are due THIS Saturday, 15 November! Let RSVP help you finish that 📘 or book proposal, fund that much-needed archival trip ✈️ or delve into that project that's been languishing due to lack of ⏰ +💲! All completed applications should be submitted here:
Peterson Fellowship - The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals (RSVP)
Application portal
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November 12, 2025 at 2:45 PM
rs4vp.org
📣 Save the date! Nominations for our annual Colby Book Prize opens next week on 15 November. To comply with tax laws, books must be nominated by somebody other than the author, so tell us about the best book YOU read on #19thC periodicals published in 2025. rs4vp.org/awards/colby...
The Robert and Vineta Colby Scholarly Book Prize – RSVP
The Colby Book Prize was endowed in 2006 in memory of Robert Colby by his wife, Vineta Colby, distinguished scholars and long-time members of RSVP. In 2011, following Vineta’s death, the Board of Dire...
rs4vp.org
November 7, 2025 at 10:10 PM
rs4vp.org
Does anyone in our orbit know?
sarahebull.bsky.social Sarah Bull @sarahebull.bsky.social · Nov 1
Hey, folks, I think I heard that Renton Nicholson's The Town was digitized recently, but I can't find where — is it publicly available? Thinking that @victorianlondon.bsky.social or @rs4vp.org may know!
November 7, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Reposted by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
vpfa.bsky.social
Another VPFA Study Day: 'The Critical Age in Victorian Popular Literature'
❓literary representations of the (peri-) menopause
🌏 online
📅 19th May 2026
💰 free for VPFA Members/ £5 for non-members
Send proposals (250) to
jessica.cox@brunel.ac.uk and siobhan.smith@tees.ac.uk by 19th February 2026
This one-day symposium seeks to explore representations of the ‘critical age’ – the (peri-) menopause – in Victorian popular literature. The peri-menopausal and menopausal experiences of Victorian women have to date been overlooked or underrepresented in scholarly discussions of the period. Victorian popular literature, from novels to periodicals to advice books, provided an essential forum for discussing and shaping the public understanding of women’s bodies, even as much of it sought to obscure the female body. The (peri-) menopausal experience was often framed in terms of illness, excess, and degeneration, or, conversely, was relegated to silence. Women at the ‘critical age’ are frequently marginalised and associated with a range of negative stereotypes in literary and cultural narratives. This call for papers invites exploration of how this phase of women’s lives was constructed in the Victorian imagination, in medical discourses and advice literature, and in women’s lived experiences. We invite 20-minute papers exploring any aspect of the critical age in Victorian popular literature. Topics for exploration include but are not limited to: • Representations of the critical age in Victorian popular fiction • The medicalisation of (peri-) menopause • Cultural constructions of middle-aged women • Class and (peri-) menopause • (Peri-) Menopause in Victorian advice literature • Motherhood and (peri-) menopause • Experiences of the critical age in Victorian women’s life writing • Myths and popular misconceptions The event will also include a Digital Humanities Research Skills Workshop, with an emphasis on making digital methods more accessible. We invite short papers or workshop proposals that showcase how digital tools can be used to research women and their bodies in Victorian literature. Possible topics include data creation/cleaning/visualisations, textual, quantitative or statistical analysis, using AI or specific tools (such as Voyant or Power BI).
November 7, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
drhorrocks.bsky.social
Challenging AI to create a Punch Pocket Book. We still rely on keywords for tagging as the most effective method for training data sets. Julia Thomas Pictorial Punch Study Day @britishlibrary.bsky.social @punchspocketbook.bsky.social @rs4vp.org @l19cmanmet.bsky.social
November 7, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Reposted by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
drhorrocks.bsky.social
Fascinating discussion of the Almanacks and Pocket Books as depicted in the Silver Diary with @patrickleary.bsky.social for the Pictorial Punch Study Day @britishlibrary.bsky.social @punchspocketbook.bsky.social @rs4vp.org
November 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Research Society for Victorian Periodicals
catherinefaver.bsky.social
The wonderful @patrickleary.bsky.social begins his keynote at ‘Pictorial Punch’ at @britishlibrary.bsky.social . Great to be here with other @rs4vp.org friends!
November 7, 2025 at 12:05 PM
rs4vp.org
Our next #RSVPDigiEvent is coming up on Friday, 21 November! We'll hear from the editors of 3 top Victorian studies journals (including VPR's own kmalonephd.bsky.social) on "How to Get Published in an Academic Journal." Come one, come all! buff.ly/ydJkKAK
November 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM