Abstract
Pamela Buck’s Objects of Liberty: British Women Writers and Revolutionary
Souvenirs begins with an anecdote. Helen Maria Williams writes a letter from Revolutionary Paris, describing a snuffbox containing a picture of the Archbishop of Paris, Abbé Maury—member of the National Assembly and supporter of the Ancien Régime—which “‘jumps up, and occasions much surprize and merriment,’” with the touch of a spring (1). This “sentimental object” (1) becomes a touchstone for Buck’s thesis: that souvenirs, in their capacity to circulate, communicate ideas and feelings; and that when the souvenirs are associated with the French Revolution—the snuffbox satirizes an aristocratic supporter of old regime France—those ideas and feelings can take on a fresh political edge and urgency.
Souvenirs begins with an anecdote. Helen Maria Williams writes a letter from Revolutionary Paris, describing a snuffbox containing a picture of the Archbishop of Paris, Abbé Maury—member of the National Assembly and supporter of the Ancien Régime—which “‘jumps up, and occasions much surprize and merriment,’” with the touch of a spring (1). This “sentimental object” (1) becomes a touchstone for Buck’s thesis: that souvenirs, in their capacity to circulate, communicate ideas and feelings; and that when the souvenirs are associated with the French Revolution—the snuffbox satirizes an aristocratic supporter of old regime France—those ideas and feelings can take on a fresh political edge and urgency.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 93–97 |
| Journal | Studies in Romanticism |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 20 Feb 2025 |
Keywords
- Objects
- Souvenirs
- Mary Wollstonecraft
- Mary Shelley
- French Revolution
- sentiment
- Helen Maria Williams
- Napoleon
- Romanticism