The 18th-Century Discovery of Britain Alison O'Byrne and Jim Watt
Event details
Explore how 18th-century domestic travel came to rival the famous European Grand Tour.
Join Jim Watt and Alison O’Byrne of the University of York for a richly illustrated talk as they examine the practice and representation of tourism on ‘home’ ground. Discover the relationship between tourism, travel-writing and national identities at a time when Britain was emerging as an increasingly prosperous imperial nation.
During their talk, Jim and Alison will draw on their co-edited collection Discovering Britain and Ireland in the Romantic Period: Grand Tours.
This event is presented in partnership with HistoryExtra.
‘The 18th-Century Discovery of Britain’ is one of a number of events taking place as part of a special edition of YorkTalks. Celebrating University of York’s research at its best, we invite you to explore a dynamic landscape of curated talks, live performances and hands-on activities staged in the historic Heslington Hall and its grounds on the theme Heritage Reframed.
HistoryExtra
HistoryExtra (formerly BBC History Magazine) is Britain’s biggest-selling history brand with a highly engaged and loyal audience. It brings history to life with informative, lively and entertaining features written by the world’s leading historians and journalists. Whether it’s the grand history of politics and institutions or the fascinating stories of our private lives through the ages, HistoryExtra sheds new light on the past and helps us make more sense of today’s world.
Image credit: Paul Sandby, 1731–1809, Pont-y-Pier near Llanroost, Denbighshire, ca. 1800, Watercolor and gouache on medium, smooth, cream wove paper, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, B1975.4.1726.
About the speakers
James Watt is a Professor in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York. He is the author of Contesting the Gothic: Fiction, Genre, and Cultural Conflict, 1764-1832 (Cambridge University Press, 1999) and British Orientalisms, 1759-1835 (Cambridge University Press, 2019), and the editor of The Citizen of the World (2024) in the Cambridge Collected Works of Oliver Goldsmith.
Alison O’Byrne is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York and has published widely on representations of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. She is the author of The Art of Walking in Eighteenth-Century London: Representing the City, 1700-1830 (Cambridge University Press, 2025).
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