Scandal Nation: Law and Authorship in Britain, 1750-1832

Kathryn Temple argues that eighteenth-century Grub Street scandals involving print piracy, forgery, and copyright violation played a crucial role in the formation of British identity. Britain's expanding print culture demanded new ways of thinking about business and art. In this environment, print scandals functioned as sites where national identity could be contested even as it was being formed.

Temple draws upon cases involving Samuel Richardson, Samuel Johnson, Catharine Macaulay, and Mar...