Publishing and the classics: Paley’s Natural theology and the nineteenth-century scientific canon
Section snippets
Theories of the classic
At its simplest, the classic is a work ‘which continues to be read several generations after it was written’.6 Older theories of the classic, including that formulated by T. S. Eliot, took a very limited
Gentlemanly natural theology
Natural theology, or, evidences of the existence and attributes of the deity collected from the appearances of nature was published by Robert Faulder of New Bond Street, London in 1802.27 Faulder published a mixture of religious and political works, and some travel
The classic reprint
In the early 1810s, the share-holders had been willing to buy into Natural theology because it was still selling well, and looked likely to continue to do so. Once it came out of copyright, other publishers noted this success in the gentlemanly market, and decided that there was every chance it would be repeated in the middle-class market. These publishers were often based in Glasgow or Edinburgh, or were smaller publishers in London who had not been involved with the copyright editions.
Popular science or Christian apologetic?
Once print was made available at prices the middle classes could afford, the working classes were the next obvious target for publishers. This began to happen from the late 1830s, and especially from the 1840s, and was largely dependent on changes in the use of printing technologies. In the mid-1830s, W. & R. Chambers of Edinburgh used their steam printing machines to print People’s Editions. Constitution of man was one of the first, in 1835. It cost only 1s.6d., and sold an incredible 40,000
Conclusions
Natural theology was already being regarded as a classic, at least by some publishers, in the 1820s. From the 1840s onwards, the use which was made of Natural theology was predicated on its status as a work combining science and religion which had stood the test of time, and which therefore had authority. In turn, the continued reprintings and readings of the work helped to consolidate this authoritative and, indeed, classic status. However, in the 1830s and 1840s, the theological credentials
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Jon Topham for stimulating my interest in this topic originally, and the anonymous referee for making me clarify my thoughts in the introduction
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