The True Bill Press

THE MAIDEN TRIBUTE OF MODERN BABYLON.
REPORT OF THE SECRET COMMISSION

By W.T. Stead

Edited and with annotations and an introductory essay by Antony E. Simpson

Originally published in the Pall Mall Gazette in 1885.

"The mythology of the Modern Babylon lives on in both popular and academic circles. Perhaps surprisingly, though, this is the first time that the articles have been reprinted in their entirety in monograph form. Carefully edited and annotated, the volume includes not only the four reports of Stead's Secret Commission but also much of the surrounding text, including letters of response, coverage of the parliamentary discussions, and legal commentaries about the attempts to suppress these editions of the Pall Mall Gazette. Almost one hundred notes explain obscure references and identify individuals, and errors in the text are corrected. Simpson also provides a substantial introduction that sets out the social and legal context to the crusade. He outlines in detail the laws relating to prostitution and brothel-keeping, assesses the campaign for reform, and discusses the significance of the Criminal Amendment Act of 1885. Simpson does a good job of summarizing the extensive historiography on these issues....[T]he full text of the articles is available online. For those wishing to study this episode in more depth, however, the introduction, annotations, and extra primary materials make this volume a worthwhile read. [The articles] made such an impact on contemporary opinion, moreover, that they must be regarded as being among the key texts of the period, and it is to be welcomed that a scholarly edition is now available."

H-Albion, H-Net Reviews, January 2009.

"It is exceedingly useful to have this series of articles gathered together in one place, inclusive of Stead's own commentaries (not always easily distinguishable from the actual reports) and the published responses of his readership for and against the case he was making....The text has helpful footnotes translating words and phrases in other languages in the original, explicating usages or allusions which might be opaque to the modern reader, identifying named individuals, and so forth. [The editor's introduction] is workmanlike [and] provides an extremely solid account of the relevant laws and their history."

The London Journal, July 2008.

"[T]his publication contains a major primary source that documents Victorian attitudes toward female sexuality and its exploitation...Drawing on established scholarly work, [the editor's] lengthy introductory essay places the Maiden Tribute articles, and the [Criminal Law Amendment] Act, firmly within their historical context. Despite being a challenging undertaking, Simpson efficiently summarises the various efforts, and the changing attitudes, of the moral purity movement, feminists, religious reformers, and the emergent middle-class to control organized prostitution by legislative means over the previous sixty years. Annotations, again by Simpson, identify people and places mentioned, and clarify many of Stead's references. The essay, and Simpson's annotation of the text, is clear and well written, and all the explanations are concise and articulate....This book will appeal to all scholars researching the Maiden Tribute articles themselves, the legal history regarding the age of consent specifically, or the social and political landscape surrounding the passage of the 1885 Act more generally, although this book will be most beneficial to those coming to the Maiden Tribute articles for the first time, criminologists and social and legal historians alike will surely find this book an invaluable reference tool."

The Sociological Review, August 2008.

"Professor Simpson not only makes careful annotations and clarifications to the original text, identifying places and names, which help the reader to understand and to catch the meaning--both textual and contextual--of the Maiden Tribute, but also places it in a specific legal historical frame. The fine introductory essay focuses on the social and legal context in which was enacted the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885....Simpson's introductory essay carefully describes the different legal efforts to govern sexuality, in the specific field of female sexual exploitation and prostitution in 19th century England."

Sortuz: Oñati, Journal of Emergent Socio-Legal Studies, 2008.

"Simpson does Stead's work a great service by lending his voice to the piece, bringing together complexities the reader would not have otherwise understood. The introduction is a crucial addition to the work and brings together the arguments Stead attempts to make....Simpson's introduction certainly validates some of the arguments that Stead makes throughout the body of the text....Simpson's introduction and annotations throughout the text are indispensible to this collection of articles--he translates words and corrects grammatical errors thoroughly. This helps give the reader a broader understanding and ability to analyze Stead's observations....This book makes a useful contribution to the study of Victorian Great Britain and will be of a great value to historians interested in both social development and legal development in the UK. In addition, criminologists and European legal scholars will find this book of importance....it is most definitely a book that scholars will benefit from reading, and it would be a worthwhile assignment for upper level undergraduate British and international history courses."

The Law & Politics Book Review, March 2009.

"Long overdue re-issue of Stead's classic tabloid crusade (about 100 years before 'tabloid crusade' became a concept) with meaty annotations. A must-read for journalism historians."

Doctor of Journalism website (http://doctorofjournalism.com), 19 April 2009.

"The value of this reprint is that it reminds us of the rich complexity of [late 19th century moral] politics; something that is often lost in abridged accounts of the Maiden Tribute articles. It is not just that the now overly-familiar story of Stead's purchase of 'Lily,' the £5 virgin, is shown as merely one of the many instances of the trade in child prostitutes; more importantly, we are treated to a powerful exposition of an easily misunderstood political stand...[W]e can be grateful that The True Bill Press has provided an accessible reprint of one of the most important newspaper series of the Victorian era."

Parliamentary History, No. 2, 2009.

"It is the original five articles (published from 6 to 10 June 1885) plus an introduction (from 4 June of the same year) of this media campaign that have been collected, reprinted and annotated in the volume under review--the first complete and unabridged reissue of the "Maiden Tribute" campaign since it was first published.

The "Maiden Tribute" campaign can be considered one of the canonical texts of New Journalism, and this complete, annotated re-issue is this most welcome. Many of the "canonical" texts of this or indeed any other era are in fact rarely accessible outside archives, so Antony E. Simpson is to be commended for making this book a reality. This text is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in New Journalism and/or in the historical roots of modern tabloid (or "popular") journalism.

[I]t should be noted that Simpson is foremost a legal scholar and historian, and his interest in the text comes from the fact that it was an intervention in an ongoing politico-legal debate. From this point of view, Simpson's introduction to the book is excellent and presents the socio-legal context of the campaign in some depth, a key element of which was the ongoing processes of class formation in Victorian society (Simpson demonstrates the particularly middle-class appeal of the Maiden Tribute campaign very convincingly)."

Journalism Studies, No. 5, 2009.

"The Maiden Tribute "represents a major primary source on Victorian attitudes towards female sexuality. Antony E. Simpson's annotations identify people and places specified by Stead. Simpson's introductory essay is especially useful for historical context as it traces efforts to combat organized prostitution from the 1820s onward...His edition initiates a valuable contribution to Victorian studies, with promised further reprints of primary sources to come from The True Bill Press."

The Year's Work in English Studies, No. 1, 2009.

"Simpson's introductory essay...forms a general commentary for all the articles. With its excellent footnotes (far more convenient of course than endnotes), its additional material (e.g. the Labouchère Amendment) and its up-to-date list of primary and secondary references..., the editorial work is remarkable, and it will be found extremely useful by those who discover Stead's Pall Mall Gazette articles for the first time."

Cercles: Revue Pluridisciplinaire du Monde Anglophone, 2010.

"A clear introductory essay by Simpson accompanies...the famous series of articles by W. T. Stead...Simpson firmly places Stead's endeavours within the context of debates about prostitution and its legality in the nineteenth century...Simpson cautions us not to overestimate the significance of either the articles or the legislation. In addition, Simpson exposes the key flaws within Stead's analysis of the problem of sexual abuse, namely his insistence upon the innocence of the so-called victims and the way in which he glossed over evidence of sexual relations with girls under thirteen, both of which were related to Stead's anxiety to provide a coherent narrative of class exploitation but which totally ignored more common patterns of sexual abuse in society."

Crime, Histoire & Sociétés/Crime, History & Societies, No. 1, 2010.

"[T]his is a useful edition, ably edited, annotated, and introduced by Antony E. Simpson and should find its way into university libraries and the collections of historians of sexuality.

Journal of the History of Sexuality, January 2011.

"Antony Simpson's edition of Stead's infamous The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon provides readers and students with the entirety of Stead's text (available only in part online) in addition to reproducing some supplementary material from the relevant issues of the Pall Mall Gazette which helps to give a fuller picture of the debate surrounding Stead's project. Simpson (a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice) also provides footnotes and an introduction that discusses the legal status of prostitution in the nineteenth century, as well as a select bibliography of primary and secondary sources, with a focus on law. Simpson is meticulous about documenting all changes to the text, even footnoting all changes to spelling and punctuation as well as warning readers of such changes in the introduction."

English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920, No. 4, 2011.

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