Doubleday pre-empts Delaney's Queer Georgians

Doubleday has pre-empted Queer Georgians: A Hidden History by Dr Anthony Delaney. 

Alex Christofi, editorial director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Charlotte Merritt at Andrew Nurnberg Associates, for publication in 2025.

Delaney is a historian, broadcaster and actor. He completed his PhD at the University of Exeter where his research focused on queer domesticity in the long 18th century. He is now an honorary research fellow across the Departments of Archaeology and History, and Communications, Drama and Film at the University of Exeter. He has been called for comment on period dramas in BBC History Magazine and the Guardian, and has delivered talks and seminars for The National Trust, The National Trust for Scotland, The British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, Sorbonne University and Kensington Palace.

The publisher said: “Based on original archival research, Queer Georgians promises to transform our understanding of history, taking the reader into the taverns, country houses, courtrooms and cruising grounds of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Long written out of the narrative, these are the largely untold stories of queer people living in Great Britain, Ireland and America three centuries ago, forging communities that were full of joy and companionship as well as tragedy.”

Christofi said: “There is such an appetite for history that is more inclusive than tricorns and cannon, and in this dazzling work, Dr Anthony Delaney has restored the stories of people daring to challenge society’s expectations (with sometimes surprising success). Based on rigorous primary research, Queer Georgians traces queer culture back further than we have been led to believe, bringing this lost world to life almost as if ’It’s a Sin’ was transposed to the coffee-house era of Hogarth.”

Delaney said: “It is a real pleasure and privilege to explore these complex, resilient and joyful histories, particularly now as conversations regarding gender and sexuality continue to evolve. I am especially lucky to be shaping the book with the editorial insights of Alex Christofi and the expert guidance of the wider team at Doubleday. Queer Georgians will be, I hope, a history for everyone, and invites readers to journey across a glittering new historical terrain.”