Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which a group of West Country literati portrayed their region and activities in two key publications: Poems Chiefly by Gentleman of Devonshire and Cornwall and Essays by a Society of Gentlemen at Exeter. It identifies the characteristics of the regional and national identities they create in terms of British resistance to foreign aggression, polite learning and a conservative sociability, and considers these as part of the establishment response to the French Revolution.

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