When Viscount Castlereagh, leader of the House of Commons and architect of the Grand Alliance, committed suicide in 1822, the coroner's inquest could consider only two legal verdicts: insanity or self-murder. Public outrage greeted his burial in Westminster Abbey; the tradition lingered that a suicide's burial place be at a crossroads, with a stake through the heart to keep the lost soul from wandering. Probing a remarkable variety of sources and individual cases, Barbara Gates shows how attitudes toward suicide changed ...
Read More
When Viscount Castlereagh, leader of the House of Commons and architect of the Grand Alliance, committed suicide in 1822, the coroner's inquest could consider only two legal verdicts: insanity or self-murder. Public outrage greeted his burial in Westminster Abbey; the tradition lingered that a suicide's burial place be at a crossroads, with a stake through the heart to keep the lost soul from wandering. Probing a remarkable variety of sources and individual cases, Barbara Gates shows how attitudes toward suicide changed between Castlereagh's death and the end of the century. By 1900 the Victorians' moral censure of suicide and the accompanying denial that it was a widespread problem had been replaced by a more compassionate response--and also by an unfounded belief in a "suicide epidemic," which Thomas Hardy described as a "coming universal wish not to live.". Exposing a rich area of interaction between history and literature, and utilizing the methodology of the new historicism, Gates discusses topics ranging from the plot for Wuthering Heights to Victorian shilling shockers. Among other findings she includes evidence that Victorian middle-class men, particularly, tended to make suicide the province of other selves--of men belonging to other times or places, of "monsters," or of women. Originally published in 1988. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Read Less
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $9.99, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $10.00, good condition, Sold by Gardner's Used Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tulsa, OK, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
G jacket. Hardcover book is in good condition. Clean text, no markings. Tight binding, light general handling wear. Dust jacket shows edgewear, some small tears around edges. Tulsa's best used bookstore. Located on South Mingo Road since 1991. No-hassle return policy if not completely satisfied.
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $11.41, like new condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $16.00, very good condition, Sold by funyettabooks rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bloomington, MN, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Very Good jacket. History. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. A study of the philosophy, the psychology, and the history of suicide in the Victorian Era. This book is in near fine condition and appears unread. The dust jacket is in very good condition with a little bit of wear along the edges. The jacket is in new clear protective covering. Edition not stated.
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $30.00, very good condition, Sold by Moe's Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Berkeley, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good in Good jacket. The top and bottom edges are shelf worn with the inside of the jackets spine being slightly smudged. The cover boards are in great condition with no visible flaws apart from some light handling wear. Binding is tight. The top edge of the text block is slightly foxed, not visible on pages, otherwise all other pages are clean and unmarked.
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $42.57, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $55.00, very good condition, Sold by Landmark Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Traverse City, MI, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Very good in very good dust jacket. Signed by author. First Edition Hardcover in tight clean condition with like jacket Inscribed by Author. A great scarce copy. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 208 p. Princeton Legacy Library, 920. Audience: General/trade.
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $89.41, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.
Add this copy of Victorian Suicide: Mad Crimes and Sad Histories to cart. $104.01, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Princeton University Press.