'An indissoluble unity': considering the relationship between outward influences and the design of Birmingham's radical newspapers 1815-36

Birmingham is Britain's most historically important centre of printing outside London (Archer, 2016), yet its newspaper heritage is unappreciated and under-researched. With the 300th anniversary of Birmingham's first newspaper approaching, this study is a timely step towards understanding the historical significance of early newspaper print culture in the region.

This research will explore radical newspapers through the lens of their design - typography, layout, illustration, format, paper - in order to determine how external factors affected their appearance and what their design can reveal about the political and social backgrounds in which they were published.

It will build on what Aldous Huxley described as the 'indissoluble unity' between 'inward and outward, substance and form' (Huxley, 1928). Presentation affects perception, yet, despite its link with content, the visual elements of the radical newspaper are unexplored. Is it possible to determine a specific visual language in Birmingham's early nineteenth-century radical press, as has been identified in the twentieth-century underground press (Kaplan, 2013)? The importance of place and space to Birmingham's print culture has been established (Archer, 2020) - did the circumstances of the radical newspapers' creation alter their appearance in any way?

Studies on radical print culture show shifts in format or content can be traced to changing economic and political conditions. For example, the government's campaign against the unstamped (Gilmartin, 1996) forced newspaper publishers to employ strategies to avoid taxation, prompting local radical George Edmonds to call his Weekly Recorder a pamphlet (Briggs, 1949). How did the clandestine nature of the radical titles translate into their design and production?

While there are several studies on the history of radicalism in Birmingham (Thomas, 2021), references to radical newspapers are incidental. This study elaborates on previous research and links it directly to the region's print culture and the professional, social and political networks integral to Birmingham's newspapers.

This interdisciplinary approach advances new methodologies for ascertaining key contextual information. It merges typographic analysis with traditional historical methods, historical bibliography, material culture studies and theories on place and space. Uniting these disciplines will create a matrix of information which will be interrogated in order to understand the relationship between the material sources (newspapers) and the immaterial world around them.
The new methodological tool could be replicated by historians or current commentators when researching the connection between printed media and its external circumstances. The research will feed into discussions about the primacy of the London press and help to draw conclusions about the national importance of Birmingham's radical newspapers.

Indicative timeline
Years 1-2:
BCU PGCert in Research Practice;
contextual reading;
evidence gathering in archives and libraries;
develop methodology;
refinement of research questions and source material;
participation in CPHC events.

Years 3-4:
contextual reading;
evidence gathering in archives and libraries;
testing, refining and application of methodology;
analysis of material and data;
first draft chapters;
organise conference on West Midlands Newspapers;
participation CPHC events.

Years 5-6:
contextual reading;
conclusions from research;
final draft chapters;
participation CPHC events.

Year 7:
Edit and proof-read
Prepare thesis for printing and binding