BSECS 2013

I recently attended the 42nd Annual Conference of the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies at St. Hugh's College, Oxford (3-5 January 2013).

This year's theme was 'Credit, Money and the Market' with key note addresses from Professor Robert D. Hulme (Evan Pugh Professor of English Literature, Penn State University) and Professor Julian Hoppit (Astor Professor of British History, University College London). Both papers were interesting and challenging, provoking much discussion as well as causing many of us to re-think aspects of eighteenth-century life.

I heard a number of interesting on a range of topics from Sermons to Art History, The Reign of Queen Anne and the Financial Development of Britain.

In my own field of Caricature, James W. Baker (Paul Mellon Centre for British Art) gave a fascinating paper outlining his present work on the business networks behind the production of prints during the Eighteenth Century. Whilst my own paper, 'The 1797 Invasion Crisis in Caricature' appeared to be well received and sparked a number of questions.