Editing Russell Square (section)

== Literature and culture ==
===Literature===
[[File:52 to 60 Russell Square.jpg|thumb|right|The southern side of Russell Square includes the 19th century houses at 52 to 60, which are Grade II listed]]

Russell Square appears in various novels. In the early chapters of [[Thackeray]]'s ''[[Vanity Fair (novel)|Vanity Fair]]'' (1848), set in about 1812, Russell Square is evoked as the residence of "John Sedley, Esquire, of Russell Square, and the [[London Stock Exchange|Stock Exchange]]."<ref>William Makepeace Thackeray, ''Vanity Fair'', Ch. 4.</ref> [[Virginia Woolf]] set many scenes of her novel ''[[Night and Day (Woolf novel)|Night and Day]]'' (1919) in Russell Square.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.literaturepage.com/read.php?titleid=woolf-night-and-day&abspage=227&bookmark=1 |title=Virginia Woolf: Night and Day |publisher=Literature Page |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref>

Jenny Chawleigh, daughter of business man Jonathan Chawleigh, lives with her father in Russell Square before she marries the protagonist, Captain Adam Deveril (Viscount Lynton), in Georgette Heyer's Regency romance novel "[[A Civil Contract]]", published in 1961. They converse about the history of the Square on Lord Lynton's first visit to the house, and Mr. Chawleigh is not impressed with the statue of the Duke of Bedford.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://jenniferkloester.com/a-civil-contract-hidden-depths-part-2/|title=A Civil Contract - Hidden Depths part 2 |publisher=Jennifer Kloester|access-date=10 March 2024}}</ref>

21 Russell Square is the murderer's street address in the novel (but not in the [[The Murderer Lives at Number 21|movie adaptation]]) ''The Murderer Lives at Number 21'' (''L'Assassin habite au 21'') by the Belgian writer [[Stanislas-André Steeman]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://at-scene-of-crime.blogspot.com/2012/04/no-murderer-doesnt-live-here-try-number.html |title=No, the murderer doesn't live here... try number 21 in Paris |date=28 April 2012 |publisher=At the Scene of the Crime |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref> In [[John Dickson Carr]]'s detective novel ''[[The Hollow Man (Carr novel)|The Hollow Man]]'', the victim, Professor Grimaud, lives in a house on the western side of Russell Square.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gadetection.pbworks.com/w/page/7931972/The%20Hollow%20Man |title=The Hollow Man |publisher=Gadetection |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref> In [[Alan Hollinghurst]]'s novel ''[[The Swimming Pool Library]]'' (1988), the protagonist William Beckwith spends time here with his lover who works in a hotel overlooking the square.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lQTRxU47a0UC&q=%22Swimming+Pool+Library%22+Russell+Square&pg=PA102 |title=The Swimming-pool Library |first= Alan |last= Hollinghurst |publisher=Chatto and Windus |year=1988 |isbn=978-0701132828}}</ref>

In chapter 6 ("Rendezvous") of [[John Wyndham]]'s novel ''[[The Day of the Triffids]]'' (1951) the main characters William (Bill) Masen and Josella Playton are photographed by Elspeth Cary in Russell Square while practicing with triffid guns.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/a-literary-london-mash-up-map-9099178.html |title=A literary London mash-up map |date=2 February 2014 |publisher=The Independent |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref> In [[Ben Aaronovitch]]'s Peter Grant books, the first of which is ''The Rivers of London'' (also known as ''Midnight Riot''), The Folly – headquarters of British wizardry – is located in Russell Square.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mychroniclebookbox.com/book-reviews/ben-aaronovitch/rivers-of-london/ |title=The Rivers of London |publisher=My Chronicle Book Box |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref>

===Television===
Russell Square is the location of the eponymous bookshop in the [[Channel 4]] sitcom ''[[Black Books]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0526550/quotes |title=Black Books |publisher=IMDB |access-date=15 July 2018}}</ref> In the BBC's 2010 ''[[Sherlock (TV Series)|Sherlock]]'' episode entitled "A Study in Pink", Russell Square is the park in which the character of Dr Watson is re-acquainted with his previous classmate Mike Stamford. The Imperial Hotel façade that lines Russell Square serves as a backdrop for the park-bench conversation between them.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1665071/|title=A Study in Pink|publisher=IMDB|access-date=15 July 2022}}</ref>