Robert Pattinson is an English actor, film producer, and model. He is known for his collaborations with director David Cronenberg, having appeared in several of his films. In 2013, he gained worldwide fame when he played the lead in the Hollywood adaptation of the bestselling novel The Beloved–one of the most popular novels in history. Since then, he has starred in the independent films Maps to the Stars and The Lost City of Z, as well as the upcoming TV series The Lazarus Effect
It is generally acknowledged that most people are more familiar with the works of William Makepeace Thackeray than those of his contemporaries Jane Austen and Emily Brontë. Indeed, while the former author’s name may not be immediately recognizable to the average person, his work A Madhouse Amongst the English Countryside introduced a distinctly English perspective to the world of literature in the early 19th century.
In 2013, the William Makepeace Thackeray Society was formed with the goal of reintroducing the works of this 19th century novelist to a contemporary audience. One of the first major projects undertaken by the society was the biennial selection and editing of an anthology of short stories by Thackeray. The society also publishes a journal, Thackeray Review, which focuses on literary criticism and social issues relevant to the author’s life and work. The anthology, which was published in the United Kingdom in May 2019, includes 18 stories by Thackeray and draws on his observations of life in rural and urban England from the early 1800s to the end of his life in 1895.
The English Version of the Robert Pattinson’s Wikipedia Entry
With just a few Wikipedia editors, we were able to create an entirely new English version of the Robert Pattinson’s entry that is essentially complete. This was a complicated task, as the existing French, German, and Spanish entries were heavily influenced by the publicity surrounding the actor’s controversial personal life. We reviewed literally hundreds of articles, sourced from reliable media and including original material written by the actor himself, to create a neutral and objective account of his career.
The new version of the Robert Pattinson’s entry on Wikipedia sees the English speaking world at least 10 years ahead of where it was being kept up to date with the latest news coverage of the actor. The only significant difference between the existing French, German, and Spanish articles and the new English one is the addition of a few biographical details concerning the life and career of the 47-year-old actor. As with all new Wikipedia articles, the public can now edit the article to further augment it with the most recent updates and improvements. For example, within days of it being published, the new version of the Robert Pattinson’s Wikipedia article was viewed over 100,000 times.
The History Of Robert Pattinson’s Wikipedia Entry
We examined the English version of the Robert Pattinson’sWikipedia article to discover the origins of the current incarnation of the page. Interestingly, a few months back we were contacted by a concerned Wikipedia user who felt that there were significant problems with the article because it was largely based on a few online sources that were almost certainly unreliable. In particular, the user cited a few inaccuracies and incomplete pieces of information concerning the well-known British novelist’s life and work. This is why we decided to take the time to examine the history of the page, as a way of reassessing its current state and as a guide to creating a more complete and accurate account of William Makepeace Thackeray’s extraordinary life and career.
The English version of the Robert Pattinson’s Wikipedia entry can be found at this link. Looking at the list of sources cited within the article, we can see that it is, for the most part, a verifiable record of events concerning the author’s life and career. However, there are a few significant omissions and a few outright errors that undermine the authority of this account. The first major problem concerns the lack of any mention at all of Thackeray’s time living in France and Germany. As with all non-English Wikipedia entries, users can add additional information and lemmas to this page to provide a more complete account of the author’s life and work. Within a few days of us adding new content to the article, the information had already been compiled into a more comprehensive account:
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May 21, 2019: New entries added to the article, including a bibliography of Thackeray's works and links to images of the author. According to our records, this item was added a total of 48 times by different users between July 12 and August 2, 2019.
July 26, 2019: This editor added a link to the website rpattz.net, which is a fansite for the actor. While many of the additional content adds valuable information, we are editing this entry purely for historical purposes. All the information and material found on rpattz.net is completely independent of the article's content and provides a valuable perspective for fans of the actor. Indeed, we feel that this website and the articles found on it contribute to a more complete understanding of William Makepeace Thackeray and his works. This link was originally added to the page on July 12, 2019.
July 22, 2019: This editor added a section about Thackeray's time in France and Germany, which is an edited version of an interview that the author gave in 1873.The Madhouse Amongst The English Countryside
One of the first stories to be published in the newly formed Thackeray Society's anthology was the one that immediately preceding the creation of the new English Wikipedia article. Set in Hertfordshire in the early 1800s, it tells the story of John Harmon, an idealistic young man who has recently inherited a large fortune and decides to use his money to further the education of the working classes. To that end, he purchases a number of estate properties, which he subsequently rents out to well-heeled individuals who want a getaway from the bustling streets of London. Thackeray's work is an entertaining and at times humorous account of the 18th century English countryside and the eccentricities of the people who settled there. It also provides an opportunity to examine the changing role of the aristocracy in relation to the middle class.
The Madhouse Amongst The English Countryside, which was first published in serialized form in The English Review in 1834 and later published in book form in 1838, immediately establishes itself as a classic of English literature. In perhaps the most famous short story of the collection, “The Story of My Life,” published exactly a century ago this month, William Makepeace Thackeray introduces us to the residents of the fictitious Cherrygrove country house:
"The people who live in great houses, and drive about in barouches and coaches, and wear plum-colored silks and golden laces, are just a type,” Thackeray says in the story. “The real gentry are the honest, hard-working men who reside in small towns and hamlets, and are known far and wide for their sterling qualities. They are a noble body, and though humble in station, possess all the privileges of true gentlemen. The aristocracy of England are the backbone of the country, and they alone can improve it. The first duty of an English gentleman is to serve his country.”
Of course, the fictional account of the gentleman farmer Philip Pirrip is not meant to be taken too seriously. Pirrip is described as being “the most genuine type of the English yeoman” and shares many of the characteristic traits of the hard-working, independent farmers who were the dominant population of the English countryside at the time. Nevertheless, the work is an entertaining read for anyone who grew up in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 20th century.
The History Of Jane Austen's Wikipedia Entry
We began creating a new English version of the Jane Austen's entry on Wikipedia because the existing one was so unreliable and lacked any significant content. For those who are unfamiliar, Jane Austen is the author of several popular works of fiction, including Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Although she is most well known for her work, her life contains as much intrigue as any of her novels. Due, in part, to this reputation for producing popular fiction, the online encyclopedia mostly focuses on the author's life rather than her works.
While undertaking this project, we came across a number of errors in the existing article. Errors such as spelling mistakes and the frequent misuse of capitals have crept in over the years, presumably because whoever edited the page last did not have the time to go back over it and correct it. We were also able to track down numerous references to events and figures that Jane Austen never mentioned in her fiction. These omissions are a significant problem, as the biographical information that exists on the subject is mainly anecdotal and based on the investigations and reporting of others. Thus, it is an unreliable source from which to establish the true facts about the author's life.