Table Of ContentBY ACCIDENT OR DESIGN
By Accident or Design
Writing the Victorian Metropolis
PAUL FYFE
1
3
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Acknowledgements
As my friend DavidKirby says, “Artis the deliberate transformed by the
accidental.”WhileIbeganthisprojectdeliberately,manysuchunexpect-
edencounters withmentors, friends, andsupportiveenvironments along
the way have transformed it into this book. The process has happily
replayed the book’s own arguments, set not in the Victorian metropolis
but the institutions in which I have had the great pleasure to study and
serve. They deserve more than the acknowledgements to follow. The
project first took shape amid the remarkable community of nineteenth-
centurystudiesattheUniversityofVirginiaandthefourfacultymembers
whotaughtmemostabouthowtoread.(Andthenhowtowriteaboutit.)
To Chip Tucker, Karen Chase, Michael Levenson, and Jerry McGann,
I owe the deepest thanks, by whose lights of acuity, imagination, and
generosityIhopealwaystosteer.Thanksalsototheoutstandingmentor-
ing, teaching, and support of Stephen Arata, Jennifer Wicke, Andy
Stauffer, Brad Pasanek, Cindy Wall, John O’Brien, Greg Colomb, Paul
Cantor, Alison Booth, Jahan Ramazani, Clare Kinney, Vicky Olwell,
Guinn Baker, Cheryl Lewis, and Randy Swift. My friends in UVa’s
graduate community pushed this book always to more ambitious and
engaged terrain; thank you particularly Jim Cocola, Justin Neuman, Jill
Rappoport, Heather Morton, John Murphy, Neil Hultgren, Michael
Lewis,PeteCapuano,LindsayWright,BethanyNowviskie,BradTuggle,
Ashley Faulker, and Chris Ruotolo. This book would not have been
possible without the unfailing support of the UVa English Department
aswellasaNINESGraduateFellowship.
My colleagues in English and the History of Text Technologies pro-
gram at Florida State University likewise significantly supported my
research. As department chairs, Ralph Berry and Eric Walker provided
clear-eyedprofessional guidanceforthebook’scompletion.Iamgrateful
totheinsights andencouragement ofMeeganKennedy,Anne Coldiron,
Andrew Epstein, Paul Outka, Elaine Treharne, Cristobal Silva, Leigh
Edwards, Barry Faulk, Gary Taylor, and Micah Vandegrift. I did not
deserve the brilliance of Sarah Unruh, Cheryl Price, and John Handel,
whoseresearchassistancegroundedthebook’sargumentandexpandedits
reach.IalsothanktheCouncilonResearchandCreativityforaFirst-Year
Assistant Professor grant. The FSU Libraries provided special materials
grants and unflagging helpfulness in all my pursuits. Tony Harrison and
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,17/2/2015,SPi
vi Acknowledgements
colleagues in the English department at North Carolina State University
have NCSU have provided financial and intellectual support for this
projectandthoseithasleadto.
The Victorian studies community has been welcoming since the first
timemydissertationdirectorinsistedIgotalktostrangersataconference.
We are no longer strangers. Thanks to the many people who have
responded to the following materials at conferences, in reviews, and in
print.Fortheirhelp,thanksespeciallytoRichardMenke,DanNovak,Jill
Galvan, Alexis Easley, Ellen Rosenman, Paul Dobraszczyk, and Jim
Mussell.Significantresearchfortheprojectwasfacilitatedbytheexcellent
staff at the UVa Library, FSU Libraries, the British Library, the London
Metropolitan Archives, The National Archives at Kew, and the Library
at the London Transport Museum. Thanks also to Patrick Leary, the
VICTORIA listserv, and the evolving scholarly community on social
mediainwhichIfinddailyaffirmationofthisfield.
IamgratefultoJacquelineBakeratOUPfortakinganinterestinthis
project and smartly guiding it through its reviews. Two anonymous
reviewers offered extremely constructive feedback during the process.
Rachel Platt and Lucy McClune ably shepherded the book’s administra-
tion; its production was expertly handled by Gayathri Manoharan, Jack
Howells, and Ann Broughton. Thanks to the journal editors and pub-
lishers who have allowed materials to be adapted from “Accidents of a
Novel Trade: Industrial Catastrophe, Fire Insurance, and Mary Barton”
whichappearedinNineteenth-CenturyLiterature,vol.65,no.3(December
2010): 315–46; and from “The Random Selection of Victorian New
Media”inVictorianPeriodicalsReview,vol.42,no.1(Spring2009):1–23.
IcouldnothavepursuedliteraryscholarshipwithoutmyparentsDerek
andIngerwhounreservedlyurgedmeandmysiblingsintoopenfields,to
borrowa phrasefromGillianBeer. MydearchildrenCammandAnders
werealwayswithme,aswastheirmother—myfriend,colleague,andmost
serendipitous encounter—Maggie Simon. This book is dedicated to my
family.
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,23/1/2015,SPi
Contents
ListofIllustrations ix
Introduction:ATremendousChapterofAccidents
1
ArgumentsfromDesigntoAccident 4
TheAccidentalCity 12
TheAccidentalHermeneutic 20
WritingtheMetropolis 25
TheChaptersofAccident 27
1. AccidentsintheNews
31
NewChaptersofAccident 33
TheColumnofAccidents 43
CourtsofInquiry 51
TheMarginsofCausality 61
2. DickensandtheTrafficofAccidents
67
TheKnowledgeofLondon 67
BozontheBus 71
TheTrafficofAccidents 83
TheOmnibusGenre 93
3. IndustrialAccidentsandNovelInsurances
100
RiskWritinginCrisis 103
RiskyDescriptions 109
NovelFieldsofProbability 116
NovelCompensationofAccidents 124
4. StreetLiteratureandtheRemediationofAccident
132
ProfusionandClassification 138
RandomSelectionandDiffusion 143
TheRemediationofAccident 149
VictorianNewMedia;or,Print2.0 162
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,23/1/2015,SPi
viii Contents
5. ChaosandConnectionsontheVictorianRailway
170
‘ThisLateralBabylon’ 174
AccidentalJunctions 181
CollidingInterpretations 193
TerminalConnections 203
Afterword:AnAccidentalExcursion
211
Bibliography 221
Index 241
List of Illustrations
1. ‘Accident’intwodatabasesofnineteenth-centuryBritishnewspapers 36
2. AdvertisementbytheWestofEnglandFireandLifeInsurance
Office,Exeter,April1847 115
3. ‘ARailwayMapofEngland’ 178
4. J.C.Bourne,‘BuildingRetainingWallnearParkStreet,
CamdenTown,Sept17th1838’ 192
5. ‘SceneoftheFatalAccidentatStaplehurst’ 204
6. FrontandbackcoverofMugbyJunction,theChristmasissue
ofAlltheYearRoundfor1866 209
7. ‘TheRailwayJuggernautof1845’ 212
