Students make one of the most subversive and experimental women writers of the Romantic era accessible for all

During her lifetime Mary Robinson (1757-1800) was a renowned actress, dramatist, poet, novelist and familiar figure in the pages of the London press… not least for becoming an infamous royal mistress. Robinson also campaigned for women to be taken seriously as writers and thinkers.  
 
In 1800, she set her sights on the most influential work of the first major text of British Romanticism, William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads (1798). In her own response, Lyrical Tales, Robinson blended the Gothic, comic and sentimental to celebrate the folk tales and poetic style of the rural labouring classes.  

The result is a thrilling tour through ghost stories, bawdy comic tales and captivating descriptions of rural life. Part satire and part homage, Robinson’s collection also made the case for a new kind of Romanticism, one written by Romantic women writers with just as much genius as their male counterparts. 
 
Now, students from the English Literature BA (Hons) and Publishing MA courses at York St John University have transcribed and annotated a modern edition of this volume, which will be fully accessible and made freely available. 
 
The new edition will be illustrated by local artist Lara Aitken, and accompanied by an original foreword by Professor Andrew McInnes (Edge Hill University), with a preface by Dr Adam James Smith, Associate Professor in English Literature at York St John University. 
 
The work forms part of the York St John University Critical Editions project, which sees undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University produce accessible modern editions of eighteenth-century texts by diverse and lesser-known authors. 
 
Working from facsimiles of the original materials, the students have carefully transcribed, annotated, and represented texts so that they can be used for university teaching, scholarly research and be freely available to the public in a fully accessible format for the very first time.  
 
The new edition of Lyrical Tales will launch on Monday 11 August as part of this year’s York Georgian Festival. It will be published as an eBook and made freely available online for anyone who wants to use it for research or teaching - or for anyone simply wanting to know more about Robinson and her work. 

Dr Adam James Smith said: “The literature of the eighteenth-century is so much more diverse than people realise, and one of the main barriers to challenging deeply entrenched assumptions about literary history is how hard it is to find, and access, non-canonical texts.  
 
“It is quite easy to get hold of a copy of William Wordsworth’s Lyrical Ballads, for instance, but most people would not even know to look for Mary Robinson’s Lyrical Tales.  
 
“By making these texts freely available, in an accessible format, we hope to play a small role in proving that our literary history is rich with so many more voices, and written from so many different perspectives, than it might sometimes seem.  
 
“And the fact that it is our students who are driving this change is absolutely the icing on the cake.” 

Speaking of her involvement in the project, second year English Literature BA (Hons) student Jemima Bird said: 

“It is a real privilege to contribute meaningfully to the literary canon and to help bring the remarkable work of Mary Robinson to broader audiences. I am incredibly proud to be part of this.”  
 
Ria Bannerman, second year English Literature BA (Hons) student, said:  
 
“Accessibility for all is so valuable in the modern world of technology. So having been able to create a comprehensive guide has been a fantastic group achievement.” 
 
Sarah White, from York Mansion House, and the creator of the York Georgian Festival, said: 
 
“As we move into the third annual York Georgian Festival this summer, we are delighted to welcome back York St John University following their highly successful presentation last year. 
 
“This festival is to celebrate every element of eighteenth-century life, including stories that are often forgotten from important female voices. So, join us for a glass of fizz in the beautiful York Mansion House as we uncover the works of Mary Robinson… The Romantic Woman Writer Who Challenged Wordsworth.” 

Tickets for the launch are available on the York Georgian Festival website.  
 
Read more about York St John University’s Critical Editions on their blog. 
 
Learn more about York St John University's English Literature BA (Hons) and Publishing MA courses. 

Photograph: York St John University Critical Editions editorial team. Back row (from left to right): Dr Adam James Smith (Project Director), Isobel Williams, Charlotte Marston, and Robert Aird. Front row (from left to right): Ria Bannerman, Grace Kim, and Jemima Bird.