Coleridge's Laws: A Study of Coleridge in Malta - cover image

Copyright

Barry Hough; Howard Davis

Published On

2010-01-01

ISBN

Paperback978-1-906924-12-6
Hardback978-1-906924-13-3
PDF978-1-906924-14-0
HTML978-1-80064-432-8

Language

  • English

Print Length

405 pages (xxix+ 376)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 21 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.83" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 24 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.94" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback1252g (44.16oz)
Hardback1642g (57.92oz)

Media

Illustrations15
Tables2

OCLC Number

608626377

LCCN

2019452803

BIC

  • LAZ
  • BGL

BISAC

  • BIO007000
  • HIS037020
  • LAW060000

LCC

  • PR4483

Keywords

  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • Malta
  • Romantic literature
  • legal history
  • colonialism
  • Maltese history
  • British imperial history
  • nineteenth century
  • Romanticism
  • political history
  • colonial government

Coleridge's Laws

A Study of Coleridge in Malta

  • Barry Hough (author)
  • Howard Davis (author)
  • Lydia Davis (translator)
  • Micheal John Kooy (introduction by)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge is best known as a great poet and literary theorist, but for one, quite short, period of his life he held real political power — acting as Public Secretary to the British Civil Commissioner in Malta in 1805. This was a formative experience for Coleridge which he later identified as being one of the most instructive in his entire life. In this book, Barry Hough and Howard Davis show how Coleridge's actions whilst in a position of power differ markedly from the idealism he had advocated before taking office — shedding new light on Coleridge's sense of political and legal morality. Meticulously researched and including newly discovered archival materials, Coleridge's Laws provides detailed analysis of the laws and public notices drafted by Coleridge, together with the first published translations of them. Drawing from a wealth of primary sources, Hough and Davis identify the political challenges facing Coleridge and reveal that, in attempting to win over the Maltese public to support Britain's strategic interests, Coleridge was complicit in acts of government which were both inconsistent with the rule of law and contrary to his professed beliefs. Coleridge's willingness to overlook accepted legal processes and personal misgivings for political expediency is disturbing and, as explained by Michael John Kooy in his extensive introduction, necessarily alters our understanding of the author and his writing. Coleridge's Laws contributes in new ways to the current debates about Coleridge's achievements, British colonialism and its engagement with the rule of law, nationhood and the effectiveness of the British administration of Malta. It provides essential reading for anybody interested in Coleridge specifically and the Romantics more generally, for political and legal historians and for students of colonial government.

Reviews

With its detailed account of the British system of administration and legal process, this book sheds fresh light on the complex relations between the British administrators and the Maltese public during Coleridge's sojourn on the island. [...] The authors of Coleridge's Laws provide a thorough and rigorously researched study (drawing on new archival material) of Malta in the first decade of British rule, focusing largely on the legislative and executive powers of the civil administration and Coleridge's role (as Public Secretary) in securing the loyalty of the Maltese to the British administration.

Peter Vassallo

"Barry Hough and Howard Davis, Coleridge’s Laws: A Study of Coleridge in Malta". The BARS Review (2049-7881), vol. 44, 2010.

Full Review

Contents

The Battle of Self

(pp. 1–49)
  • Barry Hough
  • Howard Davis

Coleridge's Malta

(pp. 50–106)
  • Barry Hough
  • Howard Davis
  • Barry Hough
  • Howard Davis
  • Barry Hough
  • Howard Davis
  • Barry Hough
  • Howard Davis
  • Barry Hough
  • Howard Davis
  • Barry Hough
  • Howard Davis

Introduction

(pp. xvi–xxviii)
  • Michael John Kooy

Contributors

Barry Hough

(author)
Senior Lecturer at the School of Law at University of Portsmouth

Howard Davis

(author)
Professor of Social Theory and Institutions at Bangor University

Lydia Davis

(translator)

Micheal John Kooy

(introduction by)