Contextual Essays & Biographies
This section provides supplementary materials to enrich the understanding of Bradbury Bennet’s diaries. These essays, compiled by the project’s research team, offer biographical details on key figures mentioned in the journals and explore the broader historical and intellectual contexts of the period.
Key Figures
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Mrs. Adelaide Finch: The Melancholic Rationalist An in-depth look at Bennet’s most significant correspondent, her life in London, and the nature of their profound intellectual friendship.
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Mr. Alaric Thorne: The Engineer-Poet of Manchester A biographical sketch of the Mancunian engineer, the second member of the “Society of Night Walkers,” whose mechanical and acoustic observations provided a stark counterpoint to Bennet’s naturalism.
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Dr. Alistair Finch: The Mesmerist Notes on the career and public persona of Bennet’s intellectual foil, a celebrated proponent of mesmerism in London society.
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Dr. Henry Caldwell: The Voice of Reason A brief profile of Bennet’s closest (and perhaps only) true friend, a practical physician from Bath.
Intellectual and Social Context
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The Society of Night Walkers: An Epistolary Community An essay exploring the formation and significance of the secret intellectual circle comprising Bennet, Finch, and Thorne, who communicated solely through correspondence.
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A Note on 19th-Century Pseudoscience: Mesmerism and Phrenology A brief overview of the popular pseudoscientific movements that Bennet so frequently and sceptically observed in his diaries.