The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) was founded in London in 1826, mainly at the instigation of
Whig MP
Henry Brougham, with the object of publishing information to people who were unable to obtain formal teaching or who preferred
self-education
Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...
. It was a largely Whig organisation, and published inexpensive texts intended to adapt scientific and similarly high-minded material for the rapidly-expanding reading public over twenty years until it was disbanded in 1846.
Origins
![Lecture-Hall of the Greenwich Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge RMG PY5856](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Lecture-Hall_of_the_Greenwich_Society_for_the_Diffusion_of_Useful_Knowledge_RMG_PY5856.jpg)
Henry Brougham considered that mass education was an essential prerequisite for political reform. In October 1824 he contributed an article on "scientific education of the people" to the Whig ''
Edinburgh Review
The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929.
''Edinburgh Review'', ...
'', in which he argued that popular education would be greatly enhanced by the encouragement of cheap publications to complement the numerous recently founded provincial
mechanics' institutes. The following year a version of this article was issued as a pamphlet entitled ''Practical Observations upon the Education of the People Addressed to the Working Classes and Their Employers'', selling at least 19 editions. In April 1825 Brougham set about trying to found a society to produce cheap educational books, although it was not until November 1826 that the SDUK was formally founded.
One of those present at the first meeting was the philosopher
James Mill
James Mill (born James Milne; 6 April 1773 – 23 June 1836) was a Scottish historian, economist, political theorist, and philosopher. He is counted among the founders of the Ricardian school of economics. He also wrote ''The History of Brit ...
, and the founding committee included many Fellows of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
and Members of Parliament, as well as twelve founding committee members of the newly formed
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
.
Aims
SDUK publications were intended for the working class and the middle class, as an antidote to the more radical output of the pauper presses. The Society set out to achieve this by acting as an intermediary between authors and publishers by launching several series of publications. Its printers included Baldwin & Cradock, later succeeded by
Charles Knight. The SDUK commissioned work and dealt with the printers, and finally distributed the publications; profits were used to continue the Society's work. By using the new technologies of mass production, such as
steam presses and
stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
, the Society and its printers kept costs low and were able to sell the books at much cheaper prices than was usual.
The Society was not without opposition, and the ''
Literary Gazette
''The Literary Gazette'' was a British literary magazine, established in London in 1817 with its full title being ''The Literary Gazette, and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences''. Sometimes it appeared with the caption title, "London Lite ...
'' mounted a campaign on behalf of the book trade, supported by publications such as the ''Royal Lady's Magazine'', who complained in the early 1830s that:
Few persons are aware that the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge have done, and are still doing, more to ruin the Book trade than all the change of times, the want of money, the weight of taxes, and even the law of Libel have accomplished; yet they – a committee of Noblemen and pretended Patriots – are permitted to go on in their unfeeling, nay, considering the hundreds of thousands engaged in the Book trade, we may add brutal, career, without interruption.
Activities
![A_box_of_usefull_knowledge](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/A_box_of_usefull_knowledge._%28BM_1868%2C0808.12978%29.jpg)
The SDUK publishing programme began with the ''Library of Useful Knowledge''. Sold for
sixpence and published fortnightly, its books focused on scientific topics. Like many other works in the new genre of popular science—such as the ''
Bridgewater Treatises
The Bridgewater Treatises (1833–36) are a series of eight works that were written by leading scientific figures appointed by the President of the Royal Society in fulfilment of a bequest of £8000, made by Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridg ...
'' and
Humphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for t ...
's ''Consolations in Travel''—the books of the ''Library of Useful Knowledge'' imbued different scientific fields with concepts of progress:
uniformitarianism
Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific observations have always operated in the universe in ...
in geology, the
nebular hypothesis
The nebular hypothesis is the most widely accepted model in the field of cosmogony to explain the formation and evolution of the Solar System (as well as other planetary systems). It suggests the Solar System is formed from gas and dust orbitin ...
in astronomy, and the
scala naturae
The great chain of being is a hierarchical structure of all matter and life, thought by medieval Christianity to have been decreed by God. The chain begins with God and descends through angels, humans, animals and plants to minerals.
The great c ...
in the life sciences. According to historian
James A. Secord
James Andrew Secord (born 18 March 1953) is an American-born historian. He is a professor of history and philosophy of science within the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Christ's Coll ...
, such works met a demand for "general concepts and simple laws", and in the process helped establish the authority of professional science and specialised scientific disciplines.
The first volume of the ''Library of Useful Knowledge'', an introduction to the series by Brougham on th
"objects, advantages and pleasures of science" sold over 33,000 copies by the end of 1829. Despite the initial success of the series, however, it soon became clear that it was too demanding for many readers, and the Society began to offer more varied and attractive publications, starting with the ''
Library of Entertaining Knowledge
The ''Library of Entertaining Knowledge'' was founded by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) was founded in London in 1826, mainly at the instigation of Whig MP Henry Brou ...
'' (1829–38) and the ''
Penny Magazine
''The Penny Magazine'' was an illustrated British magazine aimed at the working class, published every Saturday from 31 March 1832 to 31 October 1845. Charles Knight created it for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in response to ...
'' (1832–45), a lavishly illustrated weekly that achieved unprecedented success, with sales in excess of 200,000 copies in the first year. The scope and scale of the Society's activities expanded further over the following decade, and included the production of a ''
Penny Cyclopaedia
''The Penny Cyclopædia'' published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was a multi-volume encyclopedia edited by George Long and published by Charles Knight alongside the ''Penny Magazine''. Twenty-seven volumes and three supp ...
'' (1833–43) in 27 volumes.
Although sales of these publications may have been more among the middle- than the working-classes, the Society had a significant role in pioneering "the idea of cheap, improving publications, freely and easily available, well produced and distributed on a scale hitherto unknown," and became iconic of the "
March of Intellect". The publisher Charles Knight bears much of the credit for the success that SDUK publications had; he engaged in extensive promotional campaigns, and worked to improve the readability of the sometimes abstruse material.
[James A. Secord (2000). ''Visions of Science: Books and Readers at the Dawn of the Victorian Age''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. pp 48–50]
The Society's continuing commitment to the high intellectual standards with which it was conceived probably contributed to its ultimate decline, as subscribers and sale of publications fell away. The ''Biographical Dictionary'' begun in 1842 was immensely ambitious and contributed to the Society's demise.
Main publication series
![The Maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge - Naples 1835](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/The_Maps_of_the_Society_for_the_Diffusion_of_Useful_Knowledge_-_Naples_1835.jpg)
*''Library of Useful Knowledge'' (1827–46)
*''
British Almanac
The ''British Almanac'' was an almanac published from 1828 until 1914 in London, United Kingdom by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. For the given year, each volume contained a 'calendar of remarkable days and terms', 'anniversarie ...
'' (1828–1914; and associated ''Companion'')
*''
Library of Entertaining Knowledge
The ''Library of Entertaining Knowledge'' was founded by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK) was founded in London in 1826, mainly at the instigation of Whig MP Henry Brou ...
'' (1829–38)
*''Working Man's Companion'' (1831–32)
*''Quarterly Journal of Education'' (1831–35)
*''
Penny Magazine
''The Penny Magazine'' was an illustrated British magazine aimed at the working class, published every Saturday from 31 March 1832 to 31 October 1845. Charles Knight created it for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in response to ...
'' (1832–45)
*''Gallery of Portraits'' (1832–34)
*''
Penny Cyclopaedia
''The Penny Cyclopædia'' published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was a multi-volume encyclopedia edited by George Long and published by Charles Knight alongside the ''Penny Magazine''. Twenty-seven volumes and three supp ...
'' (1833–43)
*''Library for the Young'' (1834–40)
*''Farmers Series'', which included works by
William Youatt
William Youatt (1776 – 5 February 1847) was an English veterinary surgeon and animal welfare writer.
Life
Youatt was the son of a non-conformist minister. He was educated for the nonconformist ministry, and undertook ministerial and scholastic ...
on the dog, the horse, cattle, and sheep (1834–37)
*''Biographical Dictionary'' (1842–44)
*''Maps'', primarily in a two-volume set, and prepared to a very high standard (many drawn by
W.B. Clarke, architect). The Society was a pioneer in utilising "volunteered geographic information".
In popular culture
*
Thomas Love Peacock
Thomas Love Peacock (18 October 1785 – 23 January 1866) was an English novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. He was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work. Peacock wrote satirical novels, ...
satirised the SDUK in 1831 in ''
Crotchet Castle
''Crotchet Castle'' is the sixth novel by Thomas Love Peacock, first published in 1831.
As in his earlier novel ''Headlong Hall'', Peacock assembles a group of eccentrics, each with a single monomaniacal obsession, and derives humour and social ...
'' as the 'Steam Intellect Society': a vicarage is almost set on fire by a "cook taking it into her head to study hydrostatics, in a sixpenny tract, published by the Steam Intellect Society".
*In the Notes to
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...
's book, ''
Framley Parsonage'', published by Oxford University Press as a World's Classic in 1980, P. D. Edwards writes that Trollope's character, Lord Boanerges, "may have been modelled in some respects on Lord Brougham.... founder of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge".
*References to the Society are rare in the modern era, but within
Steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...
culture, it is not entirely uncommon to refer to the Society itself and/or its better-known publications in an attempt to lend Victorian verisimilitude. The in-house publishing organ of the
Museum of Jurassic Technology
The Museum of Jurassic Technology at 9341 Venice Boulevard in the Palms district of Los Angeles, California, was founded by David Hildebrand Wilson and Diana Drake Wilson in 1988.Tony Perrottet" The Museum of Jurassic Technology: A throwback to t ...
in Los Angeles is called the Society for the Diffusion of Useful ''Information''; while many communities in North America have established Societies for Learning in Retirement which are partially modelled along the same lines with the goal of disseminating knowledge amongst people who, although retired, are still interested in continuing to learn.
*The
Blackwood Gallery
The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM), also known as U of T Mississauga, is one of the three campuses that make up the tri-campus system of the University of Toronto. Located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, the campus opened in 1967 as ...
, a contemporary art gallery at the University of Toronto Mississauga, has published a series of free print and PDF broadsheets since 2018, which adopt the SDUK moniker. These publications reflect on contemporary issues in the arts, humanities, and social sciences by questioning the nature of “useful knowledge,” in dialogue with the history of the SDUK.
Related societies
An American group of the same name was founded as part of the
Lyceum movement
The lyceum movement in the United States refers to a loose collection of adult education programs named for the classical Lyceum which flourished in the mid-19th century, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest. Some of these organizations ...
in the United States in 1829. Its
Boston branch sponsored lectures by such speakers as
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
and was active from 1829 to 1947. In 1838 and 1839, an American Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge published a fifty-volume set of books called ''
The American School Library''.
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...
cites the Society in his essay "Walking" in which he jestingly proposes a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Ignorance.
Thoreau's Walking – 3
References
Citations
Sources
* Patricia Anderson, ''The Printed Image and the Transformation of Popular Culture, 1790''–''1860''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991.
*Ian J. Barrow, 'India for the Working Classes: The Maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge,' ''Modern Asian Studies'' 38 (2004): 677–702.
*Scott Bennett, 'Revolutions in Thought: Serial Publication and the Mass Market for Reading.' In ''The Victorian Periodical Press: Samplings and Soundings'', ed. Shattock, Joanne, and Wolff, Michael. Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1982. pp. 225-57.
*Mead T. Cain, 'The Maps of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: A Publishing History', ''Imago Mundi'', Vol. 46 (1994), pp. 151–167.
*Valerie Gray, ''Charles Knight: Educator, Publisher, Writer''. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006.
*Monica C Grobel, 'The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 1826-1846' (Unpublished MA diss., 4 vols, London University, 1933).
*Thomas Palmelund Johansen. 'The World Wide Web of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: On the Global Circulation of Broughamite Educational Literature, 1826–1848,' ''Victorian Periodicals Review'' 50 (2017): 703–20.
*Richard Johnson, '"Really Useful Knowledge:" Radical Education and Working-Class Culture 1790–1848.' In ''Working-Class Culture: Studies in History and Theory'', ed. by John Clarke, Chas Crichter, and Richard Johnson (London: Hutchinson, 1979), 75–102.
* Janet Percival, 'The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 1826–1848: A handlist of the Society's correspondence and papers', The Library of University College London, Occasional Papers, No 5 1978,
* James A. Secord. ''Victorian Sensation: The Extraordinary Publication, Reception, and Secret Authorship of ''Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
*James A. Secord. ''Visions of Science: Books and Readers at the Dawn of the Victorian Age''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-967526-5
*Harold Smith. ''The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 1826''–''1846: A Social and Bibliographical Evaluation''. Halifax, N.S.: Dalhousie University Press, 1974.
*Jonathan R. Topham, ‘Science and Popular Education in the 1830s: The Role of the Bridgewater Treatises’, ''British Journal for the History of Science'', 25 (1992), 397-430. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0007087400029587
*Jonathan R. Topham. ‘Publishing "Popular Science" in Early Nineteenth-Century Britain.’ In ''Science in the Marketplace: Nineteenth-Century Sites and Experiences'', ed. by Aileen Fyfe and Bernard Lightman. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 2007. pp. 135-168.
* University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
houses the archives of the Society and a virtually a complete set of publications.
*Webb, R. K. ''The British Working-Class Reader, 1790-1848: Literary and Social Tension''. London: Allen and Unwin, 1955.
See also
External links
Bloomsbury Institutions: SDUK
*
au:"Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge"
at WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...
{{Authority control
Education in London
Philosophy of education
Science writing organizations
Educational institutions established in 1826
1826 establishments in the United Kingdom