ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the classical reading experiences of working-class people from the early 18th to the early 20th century in Britain. It shows how an alternative classical canon formed among working-class constituencies, according to a different set of criteria to those of the elite, although there was considerable intersection. The evidence for 18th-century working-class readers of classical works is sparse. Labouring men and women rarely enjoyed sufficient education and leisure time to read classical authors either in the ancient languages or in English translation. Barclay lived through the second half of the 19th century when access to educational resources improved markedly, providing a more guided route to classical culture. The series was designed to provide what it termed ‘literal translations’ of Greek and Roman classics. The 1840s–1850s therefore saw a departure from the earlier model of fluent ‘Englished’ texts, or ‘vernacular classics’.
