WILLIAM COBBETT - Fabian Biographical Series No. 9 - Price Threepence - Published and sold by the Fabian Society

Sep 21, 2026

Columbia University Libraries Preservation Division records the original bibliographic microform target with restrictions on reproduction and detailed technical data for the 35mm film. The main text presents a Fabian biographical tract series item dedicated to William Cobbett, written by G. D. H. Cole, including publication information and series numbering. It describes Cobbett’s later gridiron symbol, his metaphorical style in political controversy, and portrays him as a peasant whose judgments came from direct experience rather than abstract theory.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Technical Microform Data

Film and Recording Details

Biographical Series Tract Content

97-84202-9Cole,George Douglas HowardWilliam Cobbett Westminster [London] # COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIESPRESERVATION DIVISION BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET ORIGINAL MATERIAL AS FILMED-EXISTING BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD RESTRICTIONS ON USE: Reproductions may not be made without permission trom Columbia University Libraries. # TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: 35mmREDUCTION RATIO: 10:/ IMAGE PLACEMENT:IA(IA IB IB DATE FILMED: Q·30-97INITIALS:Me TBACKING\#: 28193 FILMED BY PRESERVATION RESOURCES,BETHLEHEM,PA. 17 WILLIAM COBBETT 2 815 We C○愿8ETT,JTS Te rexr nr tkEE7 FABIAN BIOGRAPHICAL SERIESNo.9. Fabian Tract No.2I5. WILLIAM COBBETT. BY G.D.H.COLE. Biographical Series No.g.Price Threepence.Published and sold by the Fabian Society,at the Fabian Bookshop,25 Tothill St.,West-minster,S.W.r. - Published June,I925· WILLIAM COBBETT. 个HE sign which appears above these words is a Gridiron—the1sign chosen by Cobbett in his later years as the symbol of hismethods of political controversy.In earlier years he had describedhimself as a'porcupine,'and'Peter Porcupine'had become,in theUnited States of America,by far the most redoubtable of anti-Jacobinpamphleteers.Carlyle compared him to a rhinoceros,and Heine toa hound.And Carlyle again called him“the pattern John Bull ofhis century.” A suggestive crop of metaphor一suggestive at least of the manin his public dealings,and as he appeared to the outside world.Hewas forever grilling his enemies on the gridiron of his invective,orsticking them with his quills of ridicule and contempt;tramplingthem down like a rhinoceros,and as insensitive to the blows theydealt him back;swift on the scent as a hound,and as tenacious ofthe chase;and,above all,the John Bull in the china shop of Tory,Whig and Radical alike. Not merely the bull,observe,but the John Bull!Everyonewho has written of Cobbett with sympathy has recognised in himan essence paculiarly English,something typical of England itself.He is not merely English;in a real sense he stands for England.He is"the pattern John Bull of his century";but his century isnot the nineteenth,in which the best part of his work was done.It is more the eighteenth,still more the seventeenth,yet more againthe sixteenth.His roots are deep in the historic past of England;the further back one goes,the nearer one seems to come to the agein which he belongs.Yet one never reaches it;for the EnglandCobbett typifies is not the England of any one century,but a deep-seated tradition—a tradition whose swift destruction in his own daycalled forth his most righteous anger. Cobbett was a peasant.He came of a peasant stock,and wasreared as a peasant,in the heart of a people of peasants.Despiteall his experiences,as lawyer's clerk,soldier,teacher,journalist,agitator,Member of Parliament,to the end of his life he thoughtand felt as a peasant.He did not need to sympathise with thepeople and their wrongs;he was one of the people,and their wrongs 4 w:re his.Every blow struck in his day at Old England-and not am nute passed without a blow—was a buffet of which he personallyfet the impact.In fghting for the people,and returning blow forblw,he was all the time fighting for himself and for his ownpeople. He was a peasant in this as well—he made no abstract theories.His judgments were all based directly on what he saw and felt andkiew from personal experience.The appeal to frst principles nevermoved him one iota,and he seldom even employed it as a weapon inccntroversy.'Liberty,Equality,and Fraternity'left him cold.Robert Owen's Utopian Socialism provoked only his contempt.Hebe came a militant Radical,not because he had any love for Radicalpiinciples,but because he saw around him positive abuses and crimesag ainst the people which called for radical remedies.The'feeloso

FAQs

What is the document’s bibliographic microform identification and series information?

The record is labeled as a Columbia University Libraries preservation bibliographic microform target. The main tract is part of a Fabian Biographical Series, indicated as No. 9, with an associated Fabian Tract number and pricing/publication details.

What technical microform specifications are provided?

The technical section lists film size (35mm), reduction ratio, image placement, and the date filmed, along with initials and filming entity information.

How does the text characterize William Cobbett’s political style and symbolism?

It explains Cobbett’s later gridiron symbol for his methods of political controversy and uses multiple metaphors to depict his combative rhetoric. It also emphasizes that his judgments were grounded in direct observation and personal experience.

Sep 21, 2026

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