Inheritance of Genius

Formerly Head of the Department of Performing Arts at Brunel University, since 2001 John Aplin has pursued independent and extensive research on the Thackeray family. In 2006 he published A True Affection: Anne Thackeray Ritchie and the Tennysons. The Inheritance of Genius will be followed by a second volume Memory and Legacy, and both are due for publication in 2010 by The Lutterworth Press.

• List of IllustrationsPrelude and Acknowledgements1. Scenes of All Sorts (1798-1839)2. Not Yet Actors in the Play (1839-1846)3. Our Street (1847-1852)4. A Little Rain of Dollars (1852-1855)5. Towards the Unknown Ocean (1855-1862)6. Here is Night and Rest (1860-1863)7. All This Endless Year (1863-1865)8. A Woman's Cares and Joys (1865-1867)9. A Great Enormous Half Grown Place (1867-1868)10. The Shabby Tide of Progress (1869-1873)11. The Inscrutable Design (1873-1875)NotesThackeray and Ritchie Family TreeAbbreviations and SourcesSelect BibliographyIndex

'He thoroughly grasped the complicated intermarriages of the Ritchies and their friends, and he is strong on allusions to the Bible and to hymns.' Charlotte Mitchell for the 'Times Literary Supplement',  13th July 2011There can be no doubt that both collections by Aplin will enhance scholar's understanding of Thackeray but their greatest contribution will be to researchers of Anne Thackeray Ritchie's life.Clare Horrocks: Journal of Victorian Culture, Vol. 17 (2), 2012."John Aplin has succeeded in resituating Thackeray the public author within a domestic, private history of daughters, cousins and generations. [...] Aplin writes well, balancing a sense of drama with a judicious use of evidence to make this family history compelling and readable."Judith L. Fisher, Trinity University 14th July 2013John Aplin's incredibly detailed two-volume biography of the Thackeray family is another profoundly excellent addition to Thackeray studies.Years Work in English Studies, Vol. 92, No. 1, 2013John Aplin has succeeded in resituating Thackeray the public author within a domestic, private history of daughters, cousins and generations. [...] Aplin writes well, balancing a sense of drama with a judicious use of evidence to make this family history compelling and readable. Judith L. Fisher, English Studies, Vol. 94, No.5, August 2013