Tact: Aesthetic Liberalism and the Essay Form in Nineteenth-Century Britain

In Tact (Princeton University Press), David Russell *11 argues that tact was an invention of the 19th century, when Britain witnessed unprecedented urbanization and population growth. He examines the essays of figures like Charles Lamb, John Stuart Mill, and George Eliot and concludes that their writing demonstrates how tact was not about politeness but about making art from ordinary encounters with others.