Cover
Half Title
Title
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1. Defining Eccentricity in Early Nineteenth-Century Britain
Eccentricity, Prophecy and the 'Spirit of the Age'
Eccentric Biography: The Emergence of a Genre
Challenging Boundaries
Eccentricity, Gender and 'Separate Spheres'
Lawlessness, Genius and the Cultivation of Eccentricity
2. Performers, Audiences and Eccentric Identities: William Martin and the World turned Upside Down
William Martin, Natural Philosopher, Prophet and Poet
The Lecturer and his Audiences
The Martinian Philosophy in Context: Anti-Newtonian and Millenarian Traditions
Science, Carnival and the Politics of Eccentricity
3. 'Beyond the Pale of Ordinary Criticism': Literary Eccentricity and the Fossil Books of Thomas Hawkins
Collecting Sea-Dragons
Anatomy and Genre
Mixing Genres
Genesis, Geology and the Perils of 'Enthusiasm'
4. Eccentricity on Display: Visiting Charles Waterton, Traveller, Naturalist and Celebrity
Visiting Walton Hall: Expectations and Surprises
Waterton's Taxidermy: Lifelike Wonders and Monstrous Hybrids
Reading Stories, Reading Specimens
The Eccentric Naturalist as Specimen and Celebrity
Conclusion
Notes
Works Cited
Index