SOURCE: "The Romancers and Historic Truth: The Question of Responsibility," "The Novelist as Historian: An Unexplored Tract of Victorian Historiography" and "The Decline of a Literary Fashion: The Historical Romance After 1850," in The Novelist as Historian: Essays on the Victorian Historical Novel, Mouton de Gruyter, 1973, pp. 22-33, 34-54, 55-63.

In the following excerpt, Simmons analyzes the changing role of historical accuracy in the Victorian historical novel.

The Romancers and Historic Truth:the Question of Responsibility

As many Victorian novelists gravitated toward the social, political, and religious issues of their age, critical hostility increased towards previous and contemporary writers who were thought not serious enough for the changed

temper of the times. For most Victorians Scott's position as the chief of the English novelists remained secured and unquestioned. His novels continued to enjoy wide popular sales and continued critical support. He served for many as the touchstone...