Drawing on previously unseen archival material, The Beginnings of University English explores the innovative and scholarly ways in which English literature was taught to extramural students in England during the fin de si?cle, and sheds new light on the modern roots of tertiary-level English teaching.Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Early Developments: English Literature as a Subject of Study from the Seventeenth Century to the Nineteenth 2. 'Barbarian war-cries on every side': John Churton Collins and the Dispute over University English Studies in the fin de si?cle 3. The University Extension Movement 4. 'A novel education': Richard G. Moulton's Inductive Criticism in Extramural Adult Education during the fin de si?cle 5. Developing a Taste for Literature: Arnold Bennett, T. P.'s Weekly and the Edwardian Clerk Coda: The Newbolt Report and University English Studies in the Twentieth Century ConclusionAlexandra Lawrie is a Research Fellow in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, UK.