Merrie England (Blatchford book)
Appearance
Author | "Nunquam", pseudonym of Robert Blatchford |
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Publication date | 1893 |
Merrie England is an influential collection of essays on socialism by Robert Blatchford under the pseudonym "Nunquam", published in 1893. The first issue by Nunquam was priced at one shilling.[1] It sold over two million copies worldwide.[2] It was said that for every one convert to socialism made by Karl Marx's Das Kapital there were a hundred converts made by “Merrie England” - though even this may be an underestimate.[3]
The book received rebuttals including:
- R. Nemo, Labour and Luxury: A Reply to 'Merrie England London: Walter Scott, 1895
- Robert Roberts, England's Ruin, Or John Smith's Answer to Mr. Blatchford's Plea for Socialism 1895[4]
References
- ^ original cover
- ^ Oxford Companion to English Literature Edited by Margaret Drabble, Oxford University, 2006, (pg.109).
- ^ Gregory Claeys - Imperial Sceptics: British Critics of Empire, 1850–1920 1139492551-2010 Page 173 "Blatchford's popularity – from which his proximity to the heart of the labour movement might be inferred – is undisputed. ... his rise was meteoric.175 His best-selling Merrie England (1893) sold more than a million copies; it was said that 'for every convert made by “Das Kapital,” there were a hundred made by “Merrie England”'; the actual ratio was probably nearer one to..."
- ^ Jason D Martinek Socialism and Print Culture in America, 1897–1920 1317320778 2015 p156 R. Nemo, Labour and Luxury: A Reply to 'Merrie England' (London: Walter Scott, 1895), pp. 90–1. 71. Ibid., p. 183. 72. Ibid., p. 190. 73. R. Robert, England's Ruin, Or John Smith's Answer to Mr. Blatchford's Plea for Socialism, vol. 2 (London: ...
External links
Merrie England (Blatchford book) at the Internet Archive