Humanities Research Software Design: The Wilde Trials Web App

Background: This article discusses the design of Web-based research software to computationally analyze the international news coverage of the playwright Oscar Wilde’s 1895 sex trials. Over two months, Wilde stood three trials, eventually being convicted of “gross indecency”(1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act).

Analysis: Over the past year, we have collaboratively designed a program to advance our understanding of the trials’ cultural impact as they were reported in newspapers around the world. Bridging our expertise in nineteenth-century cultural history and software engineering, we discuss the concept and design of the Wilde Trials Web App, as well as early discoveries about the French news coverage and plans for the program’s further development.

Conclusion and implications: Our work stands at the forefront of software design and data-driven research on the nineteenth-century press.