Credits & Acknowledgements

Funding for the project was supplied by two main research grants, both adjudicated by the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB). The first, from money devolved to Cardiff University, was awarded in 1999, and allowed the development of ‘A Database of the Production and Reception of the English Novel, 1800–1829’. The second, the much larger of the two, was directly awarded in 2001 by AHRB to support a three-year project, ‘British Fiction, 1800–1829: A Database of Production, Circulation and Reception History’. Without this support, which allowed the employment of the two research associates and visits to major resource centres, the achievement of the present database would not have been possible.

The project has also benefited greatly from support, both institutionally and on an individual basis, at Cardiff University. Special thanks are due to David Skilton, for his foresight and encouragement while head of the School of English, Communication and Philosophy (ENCAP) in the setting up of the Centre for Editorial and Intertextual Research (CEIR) as a research centre at Cardiff. Thanks are also due to Stephen Knight for his help in the purchasing of the Corvey Microfiche Edition (CME) by Cardiff University; to Martin Coyle, head of the English literature section, for practical encouragement; and to Martin Kayman, the present head of ENCAP, for his support of CEIR activities. Crucial advice came at key points in the development of the database infrastructure from the staff at the University Computing Services, in particular Hugh Beedie, Simon Williams, Andy Skyrme, and Glyn Ryland. Tom Dawkes and the Staff at the Arts and Social Studies Library at Cardiff also provided invaluable assistance, and the project team is especially grateful to those in charge of the interlibrary loan service. Special thanks are due Wendy Lewis and Rachel Webber for their assistance in managing the finances of this project.

The project is also greatly indebted to those who helped make possible the two-volume The English Novel 1770–1829: A Bibliographical Survey of Prose Fiction Published in the British Isles, general editors Peter Garside, James Raven, and Rainer Schöwerling (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), which helps provide the foundation for the main records in the present database. On a general front, research in Romantic-era fiction at Cardiff has profited immeasurably through association with the activities of Projekt Corvey at Paderborn University, Germany, under the directorship of Professor Rainer Schöwerling. Particular recognition is also due to those others who helped formulate and develop The English Novel, 1770–1829, notably James Raven and Antonia Forster for their work on volume one, and Christopher Skelton-Foord and Karin Wünsche for assistance with volume two. A fuller record of individuals, institutions, and funding bodies contributing to this printed bibliography will found in the ‘Acknowledgments’ to the two volumes.

A variety of libraries and resource centres have been visited during the compilation of the database, and it is not possible to mention individually all those curators and staff who have offered help and advice. Special mention is however due to the National Library of Scotland, where team members worked on the substantial publishing archives held by the library as well as on other categories such as newspaper advertisements and reviews. Particular thanks are due here to Iain MacIver and Iain Gordon Brown; while the project is generally indebted to the Trustees of the National Library for permission to quote from manuscripts in their care. Michael Bott and Verity Andrews of the Special Collections department at Reading University offered access to and valuable assistance with the Archives of the House of Longman. A particular debt is also due to Ms Virginia Murray and John Murray VII for allowing team members to work directly on materials from the Murray Archives while housed at 50 Albemarle Street. Most of the work on London newspapers was carried out at the British Library Newspaper division at Colindale; and the team has also made broad use of the facilities in the new British Library at St Pancras. Other libraries where information has been found include: Birmingham Public Library; the Bodleian Library; Bristol University Library; Cambridge University Library; Cardiff Public Library; Cheltenham Public Library; Edinburgh Central Library; the Linen Hall Library, Belfast; Manchester Public Library; the Mitchell Library, Glasgow; the National Library of Ireland; Norwich Public Library; University Library, Swansea; University of Toronto Library; and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Amongst contributing scholars who have offered help, special mention needs to be made of the Advisory Board who helped steer the database through its developmental stages, namely: Claire Connolly, Edward Copeland, Ina Ferris, Caroline Franklin, David Hewitt, Gillian Hughes, Rolf Loeber, Robert Miles, Jane Millgate, David Skilton, Kathyrn Sutherland, and Graham Tulloch. Amongst these, Jane Millgate offered sharply focussed commentaries at key points, as well as guidance in negotiating the Walter Scott correspondence; and Gillian Hughes was keenly responsive in testing out the different developmental stages for user-friendliness. Among other scholars who have helped individually, by offering advice and/or information, can be counted: J. H. Alexander, Andrew Ashfield, Stephen Behrendt, Emma Clery, Andrew Davies, Paul Douglass, Kevin Gilmartin, J. R. de J. Jackson, Douglas Mack, Jane Moore, Sharon Murphy, William St Clair, Magda Stouthamer-Loeber, and Wil Verhoeven.

Finally, the team would like to thank those who offered vital practical help in developing the database and in processing and inputting the materials it contains. Chris Veness of Movable Type Ltd was the external consultant in the design and mechanical development of the database, intervening at key stages to enhance its operation as well as circumventing difficulties. Michael Popham of the Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS) offered advice at the onset about technical aspects of the project. Crucial help was also provided by Nicholas Ragaz in overriding difficulties in processing contextual material at a late point. A number of people at Cardiff have contributed in supplying and proofreading materials, and also in the keying-in and transference of data, these including Anke Bernau, Lena Eriksson, Gillian Garside, Jan Gray, Kevin Hardcastle, Roberta Magnani, Christopher Marlowe, Wendy Meeson, and Jeffrey Nosbaum. In this last category, special mention needs to made of Tim Killick, who processed several kinds of contextual materials, and who was engaged right up to the closing stages, acting by then on an entirely unremunerated basis.

© 2004 Project Director: Professor Peter Garside;  Research Associates: Dr Jacqueline Belanger, Dr Sharon Ragaz;  Database/Website Developer: Dr Anthony Mandal