This introduction provides a rationalisation for a special issue of Romanticism on edges, boundaries, and borders. The Romantic period and Romantic studies have both been fascinated by the marginal, the exile, and the outsider. ‘Edgy Romanticism’, inspired by a conference held in April 2016 at Edge Hill University, looks again at these figures, but we are also interested in new work that is being done at the edges of the discipline, thinking about new methodologies and themes as constituting the borders and boundaries of Romanticism as such. So, our collection of articles begins and ends with new ways to conceptualise Romantic understandings of history, continuing with novel approaches to place, canonical Romantic poetry, and women's writing. The introduction concludes with a consideration of the effect the digital turn in the humanities will have on Romantic studies.
Introduction: Edgy Romanticism