Verse and Prose
The Hound of the Baskerville (1902) is the only novel in this series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that did not adhere to the very fin-de-siècle philosophy of rationalism.
Hint: Chapter 9
What is Sherlock Holmes?
Several references are made to this late-18th century invention in the works of Jules Verne in titles such as Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours (1873) and Cinq semaines en ballon (1863) which captured public attention during the 19th century and was later expanded upon with the invention of the Zeppelin at the turn of the 20th century.
Hint: Chapter 9
What is a Hot Air Balloon?
The sinking of this vessel at the end of the 19th century shocked Europeans of every nationality, uniting them in grief. It had been built, “to be larger and faster than any other previous vessel,” and intended to stand testament to human innovation.
Hint: Chapter 9
What is the Titanic?
During the showing of this Lumière brothers film in rural Finland, the audience is reported to have been so convinced by what they were witnessing on the screen that they stood on their chairs, actually fearing being run over!
Hint: Chapter 7
What is The Train Arrives at the Station?
This text, authored by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886 was intended to show a transformation of a man from one extreme to another within the new anthropological study of phrenology.
Hint: Chapter 9
What is The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ was the first tune recorded onto this diaphragm dupe in 1877.
Hint: Chapter 7
What is a Phonograph?
George Sadoul discusses the phenomenon of the motion picture in the United States, which made its debut sometime around 1895-6. Films shown during the time were known by this name due to entrance fees of only five cents!
Hint: Chapter 7
What is nickelodeon?
Much to the chagrin of many psychologists, this person was a pioneer in the field of psychology beginning in the 19th century, developing varying methods which included “free association,” and theories such as “The Oedipus complex.”
Hint: Chapter 9
Who is Sigmund Freud?
Visionary of The Jungle Book, this late-century author wrote open commentary on colonialism and ‘The White Man’s Burden’ through the lens of fiction set in India.
Hint: Chapter 8
Who is Rudyard Kipling?
This device, predecessor to the moving picture, had been used since the 17th century to display images drawn onto glass slides, projected using light onto a screen.
Hint: Chapter 7
What is a Magic Lantern
This theory, broadly accredited to Charles Darwin, is better known to be a bastardization by the French count De Gobineau in his piece Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines.
Hint: Chapter 8
What is social-Darwainism?
At the end of the century, Europeans began to find more interest in the spirit world, participating more widely in this belief that includes “spiritism, belief in demons and witches, alchemy, exorcism and magic…” etc.
Hint: Chapter 9
What is Occultism?
Grappling with themes of the future-that-was-to-come in the light of all the advancements made in the 19th century, this fin-de-siècle author is responsible for such works as The Invisible Man (1897) and The Shape of Things to Come (1933).
Hint: Chapter 10
Who is H.G. Wells?
Swedish journalist Claës Lundin wrote his novel Oxygen och Aromasia in 1878 to proclaim his prediction that “the Music of the Future had a future no more” after hearing this musical technique employed most famously by Wagner in his compositions Tristan and Isolde and Parsifal.
Hint: Chapter 10
What is Chromaticism?
This travel enthusiast encouraged the tourism boom with his new packaged tours to far-flung corners of the map such as Egypt, Palestine and India starting in 1841.
Hint: Chapter 8
Who is Thomas Cook?
This genre of literature became more popular at the end of the century, and in some writings such as H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine, it was used to show class struggle and separation.
Hint: Chapter 10
What is science-fiction?
American author Edward Bellamy explores his beliefs about the world to come in the year 2000 in this science-fiction novella.
Hint: Chapter 10
What is Looking Backward, 2000-1887?
This technique was coined by Richard Leach Maddox where an image could be taken, but only be seen on their material after being “exposed” when they were needed by a specific solution.
Hint: Chapter 7
What is the dry-plate process?
In the wake of the increased European interest in travel, Henry Morton Stanley exhibited this in the Victoria Gallery to show that Britain was “bringing a humane touch to darkest Africa.”
Hint: Chapter 8
What is The 1890 Stanley and African Exhibition?
“Decay instead of progress, losers instead of victors, illness instead of health, death instead of life,” is how Salmi describes this new philosophy ascribed to Schopenhauer, Wagner and, most of all, Nietzsche.
Hint: Chapter 9
What is nihilism?