One of the 'problems' with working with a large volume of material that is related not just to my specific thesis topic but also to other topics that are of interest to me is that I sometimes come across little snippets that I'd love to write about but could never justify including in my thesis. For example, I am currently trawling my way through the early volumes of the Alpine Club Journal (from volume I in 1863 through to the early twentieth century iterations) for references to the idea of the (supposed!) lack of appreciation for mountains before the development of modern mountaineering. Review articles seem to be particularly rich in terms of offhand comments revealing of embedded ideas or attitudes, and whilst those relating to the history of mountaineering will make their way into my thesis, one gem regarding women mountaineers in the late ninteenth century certainly won't.
The comment comes by way of introduction to a review of Frederica Louise Plunket's Here and There in the Alps (London, 1875), and is written by an anonymous author in the 1876 volume of the Alpine Club Journal. I hope it is obvious why it struck me so much that I let out a shout of laughter apparently so alarming that my husband thought I had encountered our resident mouse:
The comment comes by way of introduction to a review of Frederica Louise Plunket's Here and There in the Alps (London, 1875), and is written by an anonymous author in the 1876 volume of the Alpine Club Journal. I hope it is obvious why it struck me so much that I let out a shout of laughter apparently so alarming that my husband thought I had encountered our resident mouse:
"This pleasant little volume is, if Miss Plunkett will allow us to say so, one of the most satisfactory proofs we have yet seen of the 'Higher Education of Women.' If Cambridge is succeeding in its task as well as the Alpine Club, the other sex will in the next generation have put themselves in a position to demand the suffrage or any higher privelege they may wish for - possibly even admission amongst our noble selves."
It just struck me as one of those marvellous passages that is utterly revealing of the attitudes of a time, an institution, and an individual. One suspects (or indeed hopes) that the author's tongue is firmly in his cheek, particularly in his closing words, but this is by no means entirely a joke. Membership of the Alpine Club was, as far as this writer was concerned, most certainly up there with voting as a great boon for women to earn.
By the by, the reviewer's prediction regarding suffrage was perhaps a little optimistic (depending on how many years one deems to be contained within a generation), but he was certainly far out in his prediction regarding 'admission amongst our noble selves'. A Ladies' Alpine Club would be established in 1907, but it would not be until 1975 that women would be admitted to the Alpine Club itself.
By the by, the reviewer's prediction regarding suffrage was perhaps a little optimistic (depending on how many years one deems to be contained within a generation), but he was certainly far out in his prediction regarding 'admission amongst our noble selves'. A Ladies' Alpine Club would be established in 1907, but it would not be until 1975 that women would be admitted to the Alpine Club itself.