Tom Mole

Tom Mole serves as Professor of English Literature and Book History and Principal of Van Mildert College at Durham University. A Fellow of both the English Association and Royal Historical Society, his career spans appointments at the University of Bristol, University of Glasgow, McGill University, and the University of Edinburgh where he directed the Centre for the History of the Book.

His research centers on Romantic and nineteenth-century poetry through interdisciplinary lenses of book history, material culture, and celebrity studies. Mole examines how Romantic authors were received in later periods, emphasizing physical artifacts and cultural practices that shaped literary legacy. His work bridges literary criticism, historical scholarship, and the sociology of texts.

Publications consistently explore textual materiality and cultural transmission, with The Secret Life of Books (2019) and What the Victorians Made of Romanticism (2017) demonstrating his signature approach to books as dynamic cultural objects rather than static texts.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Elma Dangerfield Prize (2009) for Byron’s Romantic Celebrity
• Saltire Award for best research book (2017) for What the Victorians Made of Romanticism
• High commendation for the DeLong Prize from SHARP

Mole previously led the Interacting with Print Research Group at McGill University and directed Edinburgh's Centre for the History of the Book. While current advising activities and grant funding aren't detailed in available sources, his editorial work on The Broadview Introduction to Book History (2017) establishes foundational resources for the field.