[C19fan]

Casaubon was a real dinosaur in the book. His whole scholarly work was a throw back to the 18th century when Enlightment thinkers focused on universals. In this case, Casaubon was trying to find a universal religion. The novel takes place in right before the Reform Act of 1832. Scholarship has shifted thanks to the Romantic Nationalism and thinkers such as Burke to explore the particulars rejecting the idea of universals. Laidslaw mentions the Germans. The Germans were focusing on folklore and the how society developed organically.

[IronJack]

You seem to be really taken by this book. It’s not generally considered one of the greats of Victorian lit, but it does seem to have earned a latter-day revival. It will be my next classical endeavor, as soon as I complete Livy’s “History of Ancient Rome.”

[BunnySlippers]

I’m a big fan of anything by Trollope.

I’m in the process of re-reading now.

[Cedar]

I really enjoyed the BBC production of “Middlemarch.” I haven’t read the book, but most likely it’s even better.