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Title: Excursions in Victorian Bibliography
Author: Sadleir, Michael
Language: English
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Libraries.)
EXCURSIONS IN
VICTORIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY
“If it is true that the Victorian
time was ugly and vulgar, the
excitement of those years between
1848 and 1890 was something like
that of a religious revival.”
_The Early Life of Mark Rutherford._
ANTHONY TROLLOPE
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
FREDERICK MARRYAT
WILKIE COLLINS
CHARLES READE
G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE
MRS. GASKELL
AND
HERMAN MELVILLE
EXCURSIONS IN VICTORIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY
BY
MICHAEL SADLEIR
LONDON
CHAUNDY & COX
40 MADDOX STREET
MCMXXII
TO MY
FATHER
ERRATA
P. 24 line 33 for “first” read “second.”
P. 24 line 36 for “Finn” read “Redux.”
P. 29 line 20 for “invented for” read “'presented' in.”
ADDENDUM.
P. 72. The following paragraph should precede “1863/ A
WELCOME, etc.”
1861
THE VICTORIA REGIA: A VOLUME OF ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN POETRY AND
PROSE. Edited by Adelaide A. Procter. London: Printed and Published
by Emily Faithfull and Co., Victoria Press (for the Employment of
Women), Great Coram Street, W.C. 1861. 1 vol. Royal 8vo (6¼ × 9⅜).
Pp. x + 349 + (1). No half-title. Red-brown embossed cloth, all
edges gilt, blocked in gold and blind. Red chocolate end-papers.
NOTE.—Pp. 187 to 214 are occupied by a story by Anthony
Trollope entitled _The Journey to Panama_. This is the first
appearance in book form of a tale afterwards published in
_Lotta Schmidt and other Stories_.
CONTENTS
PAGE
ADVERTISEMENT 1
A NOTE ON THE TERMS USED IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHIES WHICH FOLLOW, 10
TOGETHER WITH OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO VICTORIAN BOOKMAKING AND
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COLLECTORS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 16
ANTHONY TROLLOPE: Essay and Bibliography 21
FREDERICK MARRYAT: Essay and Bibliography 77
BENJAMIN DISRAELI: Essay and Bibliography 107
WILKIE COLLINS: Essay and Bibliography 129
CHARLES READE: Note and Bibliography 159
G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE: Essay and Bibliography 183
ELIZABETH CLEGHORN GASKELL: Bibliography 203
HERMAN MELVILLE: Essay and Bibliography 217
INDEX OF BOOK TITLES 235
EXCURSIONS IN VICTORIAN BIBLIOGRAPHY
ADVERTISEMENT
This book is so essentially an accumulation of notes and so emphatically
wanting in the qualities of completeness and learning proper to genuine
bibliography that I have sought, even on the title-page, to indicate its
limitations. It were indeed presumption to enter the field of
nineteenth-century bibliography, in which already so much fine and
skilful work has been accomplished, with the slight technical equipment
to which I may lay claim. On the other hand, the experience of
collectors conforms oddly to type, and where, in the study of certain
Victorian first editions, I have found perplexity and doubt, others in
the same study will likely find them too. Wherefore my annotations, in
this book set in order and to a certain point rounded off, should help
my fellow-students to a speedier knowledge of points and pitfalls in the
collecting of their favourites than was easily accessible to myself. In
time (maybe in short time) my work will be superseded by investigation
more accomplished, by analysis more detailed. At such time collectors
(and myself among them) will rightly substitute for this volume on their
shelf of bibliographies the later, more comprehensive, handbooks that
shall have taken its place. Meanwhile I dare to hope that the present
work, with all its shortcomings, will find appreciative users, and among
them a few who, realizing the difficulties that even so modest a
compilation has been forced to surmount, will forgive its imperfections
for the sake of its attributes.
* * * * *
With the general propriety of book-collecting I am not here concerned.
Men there are to whom all collecting is folly; others to whom every
passion is vile. To the logical asceticism of their private Utopias they
are welcome, provided the lover be left to enjoy his mistress, the
lepidopterist his butterflies, the bibliophile his books. Even the more
subtle critic, who admits the lure of collecting but maintains that the
craze of the first edition is senseless hysteria, shall not tempt me to
dispute. This is a book about first editions, and will be read only by
the initiate. If we be hystericals, we have at least our weakness in
common. Let us therefore shut the door and compare symptoms, for we are
all fools together.
The superior and the sceptical are now excluded from the privacy of our
imaginary club-house. But a further reservation must be made. Although
it were impractical idealism to demand that the collector transcend in
his collecting every sordid consideration of market and fluctuating
value, it is reasonable to look askance at the mere speculator. From the
scope of this word I exclude, of course, the whole fraternity of
booksellers. They exist frankly for the marketing of books; and who
shall grudge them the profits of their toil? My animadversion is against
the private person to whom rare books are mere scrip, to be bought and
sold by telephone, their very titles meaningless, their contents utterly
unknown. No doubt, if this book is of service at all, it will be of
service incidentally to individuals of the kind described. That it
should be so is unpreventable. But on the general ethics of collecting
the compiler may be allowed the consolation of bearing his trivial
testimony. The private collector who buys what he likes to read merits
such reward as wise buying may earn for him. He, however, who buys by
rote, puts away and resells, is no collector at all, but rather a
trespasser on the preserves of the bookseller, taking advantage of a
noble trade while sharing none of its burdens.
With this dictum I descend from the august to the particular.
Collecting, collecting books, collecting first editions of books—all
these are postulates. At this point is a parting of the ways. The
frontiers of dispute now lie across our path; for within the bounds of
the realm of first editions are to be found divergent tastes,
conflicting fancies, all the clamour and thrust of an enthusiasm that
grows ever more complex.
The collecting of first editions is, in its present form, a diversion of
recent growth. Fifty years ago amateurs of books were few in number and,
necessarily, rich in gold, for only the great books of past literature
were regarded as fit material for collection, and great books, though
cheaper then than now, were never to be had for love. But the passage of
time has transformed, in another way than that of mere numbers, the
community of book-collectors. Not only are there nowadays more
collectors and a greater variety of books collected, but there has come
to its own the great principle of _original condition_. This is not so
pale a platitude as to many it will appear. A few book-buyers there have
always been to whom original binding, original end-papers, uncut edges,
incidental advertisements, errata slips, and half-titles have meant
perfection. But they were rare exceptions. To the large majority a first
edition was a book of a certain date without “Second” or “New Edition”
on its title-page. Buyers of this school were indifferent to the
disfigurement of library labels on side or end-paper; gave no thought to
errata slips; but shaved their favourites, fore-edge and tail, dressed
them in uniform calf gilt, affixed a bookplate, and went their way.
Such collectors as these are still amongst us, but they are now awaking
to the folly of their past. The market—that indisputable witness to
human taste—gives hard but practical proof of their wrongdoing. “Good
and original condition” is nowadays three-quarters of a book's value,
and the fraction, if it alters at all, will with the passage of time
increase rather than decrease.
Is it too much to hope that the importance of original condition has now
been permanently realized? The change, if it has really been effected,
is in the main a healthy one. Although—for it is undeniable—the craze
for the fine copy has produced its own extremism; although there are
to-day book-lovers who refuse even to open the pages of their books
lest, by such violation, they unsuit them for a mart in which,
conventionally enough, virginity is value; although advance prospectuses
and dust jackets of contemporary publications have scrupulously to be
preserved in order that a “set” be genuinely complete—the desire for a
book _as issued_ does at least argue a consciousness of its individual
personality. Standard authors, be they ancient or modern, can be
purchased in calf by telephone and at so much per yard; but the
obtaining of shelf furniture in original cloth is a matter of much
seeking and of progress measured in fractions of an inch.
It has seemed well thus to emphasize the importance of “condition” to
the modern book-collector, because “condition” in the case of such
authors as those here examined is their admirer's greatest problem, and
because the few bibliographies that already exist, while listing dates
of publication and in one case at least supplying adequate collation of
the various volumes, do not provide any real description of the
externals of those volumes when in original state.
This description I have endeavoured to supply. That my work contains
errors of omission I am certain; that it be free from errors of
commission I may hardly dare to hope. But the trouble I have had even to
arrive thus far on the way to completeness encourages belief that some
portion of the donkey work may now be regarded as done for good and all,
and that the trained minds of bibliographers proper may, if they
incline, turn their talent to such refinements of detail as surely
underlie many of the books herein examined.
* * * * *
To the collecting of first editions of Victorian novelists I came by the
honourable way of literary liking. Brought up on Jane Austen, Scott, and
Dickens, I read, during my years of flapperdom, Marryat, Trollope, and
Wilkie Collins. Oxford and the audacities of undergraduate curiosity
estranged me from all save the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
While many of my contemporaries made sour sacrifice at the altars of
disillusion, feeding their pessimism on Gissing and Butler, their taste
for paradox on Bernard Shaw, I sought disreputable refuge among fleshly
symbolists. The children of Baudelaire and Poe jostled the faint
offspring of Gaelic legend on my shelves, and, while the voluptuous
pallor of tuberoses shone against blue wall-paper, imagination floated
on the dim tide of decadence. Came reaction as swift and irrational as
were inevitable. From Paris echoed the clash of neo-barbarism, and
before the strident onslaught of the rediscovered primitive the faint
elegance of a pose too exhausted even for sin dissolved in air. They
were great days, those early days of the new brutality. Blues and mauves
gave place to orange checked with black, to vivid greens, to fierce
outrageous reds. From the scented secrecy of lamplit boudoirs the young
intellectual rushed into the wind and sunshine, and he who once made
tired love to Phryne on a couch of silk now clipped the milkmaid grossly
in a ditch. The way of other tastes went taste in letters and in art.
After d'Annunzio, Synge; after Verlaine, Verhaeren; after Pater, Hardy;
after Rops and Carrière, Gauguin and the rest.
For a while all was well. Cubism, a false interpretation of the
synthetic doctrine of Cézanne, began its brief and rigid reign. Painters
and writers fled naturalism in a search for true reality. Some are still
wandering, drearily absurd, in the desert of their own bleak imaginings.
The rest found reality, truly enough and rapidly enough—in war.
And now war has passed, leaving a world weary of fact and fever, weary
of striving, weary almost of its own ideals. For long enough yet will
persist turbulent discomfort and the clamour of quacks hawking the
millennium; but at last will be peace, and it is surely a longing for
that peace that has turned men's minds partly to high romance, but more
generally to the manners and genius of a century ago. Those of an older
generation than my own have, perhaps, never betrayed their gentle
Victorian heritage. One may envy and applaud their wisdom. But we
prodigals, returned from our rioting and sick with the husks of a démodé
violence, stoop to any self-abasement, to any denial of our own past
judgment, so we be allowed entry to the quiet courts and ordered
opulence of the age we once affected to despise. Literary enthusiasm
expresses itself in various ways. For my part to love an author is to
collect him, for I can read no borrowed books, and only with difficulty
such as are not first editions. Of the absurdity of this I am cheerfully
aware. We have each one of us our foible, and this is mine. Considered
broadly it is harmless enough, less cruel than killing birds, less
degrading than drink. Naturally, however, it cannot be indulged to more
than limited degree. Shakespeare and Sterne and Keats and Browning I may
own, but in reprint. And so with many another. But to the extent
possible in fact and a little beyond that permissible in money, I have
contrived, from one phase to another, to keep myself fairly supplied
with “reading firsts.” A decadent, I collected Verlaine and Mallarmé,
Rimbaud and the Anglo-Irish nineties; a neo-primitive, I bought Synge
and Verhaeren, Conrad and the chief Georgian poets of the new
simplicity. And so matters progressed, while gradually novels ousted
poetry from my shelves, and, again gradually, from the reading of modern
novels I came once more to Trollope and the writers of his age.
* * * * *
It is not until one undertakes seriously the collecting of the
less-known Victorian novelists that one realizes how prime the sport
that their assembling offers, how destitute of guide-posts is the maze
of their work. In the capacity of quarry few authors or groups of
authors can rival those with whom this volume deals. The essence of
collecting is the chase. The buyer of world-famous rarities, of which
the whereabouts is trumpeted abroad, knows nothing of the thrill of that
dusky provincial bookshop, among whose tumbled piles Victorians must
surely lurk. The dapper expert in ingenious moderns with his prefaces,
his cancel-titles, his censored (but disappointing) curiosa, his “works”
and “limiteds,” can set one joy alone against my dozen. He may, if the
gods be kind, on the shelves of bookshops proper find books that were
bought for new, but have not sold and still remain, lacking an entry to
the world of second-hand, still fresh, still offered at the published
price. But in the main his life is one of “inside information”; his ally
in the trade sells books instead of making them; it is the principle of
the turf in terms of Whatman paper and grey Michalet boards. To the
collector of Victorians (exception made, of course, of Dickens's parts,
of _Wuthering Heights_, of _Desperate Remedies_, of other far reputed
treasures) belongs neither the pursuit of “folios” across the world nor
the click of the tape pegging out details of obscure pamphlets. Copies
of three-volume novels by writers of reputation are hard to find at all,
and very hard in anything of condition. Nevertheless, when found, they
are often cheap. And then, when one is bought, there comes the reading
of it.
And yet at times the collector feels forlorn and without guidance, for
maybe the book he buys is a little known one, of which the very name is
strange. Indeed, the lack of pointers obtrudes harshly, and in a sense
no less literary than bibliographical. Not only is information as to
actual titles scarce and unreliable, but among the great number of these
writers' books the student must perforce read his own way to a sense of
relative quality. At the cost of some hours of tedium and of many
mistaken purchases I have arrived at a general knowledge of what these
novelists wrote, when they wrote it, and what it looked like when it
first appeared. This knowledge is herein set out for the possible
assistance of all and sundry.
The relative value as literature or as story-telling of their many books
makes more perilous judgment. I am no expert in comparative literature.
I cannot even claim to have read all or nearly all the books that are,
in the pages following, materially dissected. I have preferred therefore
to make no pretence to serious literary criticism, but have contented
myself with indicating at the beginning of each section the general
character of the work of the writer in question, into what groups (if
any) his novels fall, and have called attention here and there to
certain little known or unknown stories that have pleased me and may,
though hardly for that reason, please some of my contemporaries. Where
an author has little attraction for me, I have said so. Books of all
kinds are listed between these covers, and no single being will enjoy
them all. But this is certain: that among them the inquirer, be his
tastes what they may, will find reading to soothe him and to stimulate;
will come to seek in the solidity, whether downright, fantastic, or
lurid, in the quiet charm, in the dexterous sincerity of good Victorian
fiction, a satisfaction of spirit produced by the novels of no other
period of English literature.
Those who for years have known and pondered these Victorian tales will
smile contemptuously at such pompous revelation of a stale secret. To
them, in scorn of self and lest they lose any of that pleasurable pride
allowable to old initiates who watch a novice at his scourgings, I offer
the apology that is my book. Others, arrogant in knowledge of
Dickensiana, in possession of priceless Borrows, of Jane Austen perfect
in her boards, will turn from this humble chronicle of humble writers
with the bored serenity of a brass hat on his way to conference. To them
I make obeisance, wondering secretly whether great collections were
amassed more joyfully than my little one. Last of all, however, may come
a few, to whom, as to me, Trollope is balm and meat at once, who love
three volumes of a novel for their very spacing and ornate
expansiveness, who find shelves of cloth or labelled triplets more
beautiful than any other shelves, to whom, in short, the collection and
the reading of Victorian first editions is romance and quiet happiness.
To them my book with all its faults will come kindly and joyfully, for
they will welcome in it the voice of one who thinks and loves, as they
do, the plaint of one suffering from the same sweet sickness as
themselves.
A NOTE ON THE TERMS USED IN THE BIBLIOGRAPHIES WHICH FOLLOW
TOGETHER WITH OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO VICTORIAN BOOKMAKING,
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COLLECTORS, AND AN APPEAL TO THE EXPERIENCE OF OTHER
STUDENTS FOR ASSISTANCE AND CORRECTION
(i) I am aware that bibliographers proper designate by means of upright
strokes the alignment of wording on the title-pages of books subject to
their analysis. This mannerism I have eschewed, and for two reasons. In
the first place, a bibliography so displayed baffles the inexpert reader
by a suggestion of mathematical obscurity. Tempted by the desire to
attract a few such readers to a book that, for all its overplus of sinew
and lack of flesh, is in intention a tribute to a group of very human
and consoling writers, I have sought an appearance of readability at the
cost of a small technical sacrifice. The sacrifice _is_ small—and here
lies the second justification of my heterodox technique—because no
variety of any one of the books hereafter listed depends either on the
alignment of title-page wording or (save in a single case to which
attention is specially drawn) on the phrasing, absence or presence of a
note of reservation of foreign or dramatic rights. In short, that which
is required for the identification of a first edition I have given; but
beyond that—nothing.
(ii) The first editions of almost any author include, in addition to
books written wholly by him, a number of works for some part of which
only he is responsible. These secondary items cannot be neglected by
collectors, for any _book_ in which for the first time is published an
essay, a story, a poem, or what not by one particular writer ranks as a
first edition of that writer. Naturally, however, complete works take
precedence over partial works, and I have grouped at the end of each
section of this book such partial or minor first editions as I have been
able to identify.
It must be clearly understood that first _magazine_ publication is not
here referred to. The only periodical issue of a book that can rank with
book issue is that in _parts_, according to which the text of a novel
made its appearance in monthly or weekly sections, separately wrappered,
under its own title and unaccompanied by any extraneous matter save
advertisements. Part issues are essential to a collector; on the other
hand, the numbers of magazines in which this story or that made serial
appearance may be ignored. In many cases I have stated where (if
anywhere) novels were serialized, but such information is of general
rather than of collecting interest, save to those whose catholicity of
taste and house-room permit them the luxury of adding sets of magazines
to those of actual books.
(iii) The terms used to-day to describe sizes in uncut books vary from
those of an earlier period. For example, the terms “Post 8vo” and “12mo”
are now rarely met with, whereas prior to 1880 they were in regular and
common currency. Fearing that the modern buyer or seller of books would
be puzzled by too frequent an encounter with technicalities virtually
obsolete, I have expressed book sizes in terms familiar to present-day
ears and as nearly equivalent to those replaced as makes no matter. The
“8vo” book of the fifties is the “Demy 8vo” of the nineteen-twenties;
“Post 8vo” has become “Extra Crown 8vo”; “12mo” has become “Foolscap
8vo.” The phraseology adopted, being familiar, will give an immediate
general idea of a book's dimensions; the measurement in inches, given in
brackets in all but a handful of cases, will supply to an eighth of an
inch any further detail required.
(iv) The half-title is something of a bugbear to the collector of
Victorians. Its absence may be fatal; its presence may give pause. As
the nineteenth century progressed, methods of bookmaking became
standardized; but during the first fifty years publishers printed to
paper and their own convenience, regardless of uniformity even between
volumes of the same work. For this reason no certainty exists as to the
possession by any book of a half-title. Usually examination will show
whether, in a book lacking a half-title, the first sheet should rightly
provide one or no. The publisher who found his preliminary matter
adequate, without half-title, for four or eight pages, let it go at
that; if, however, he had two pages of his four or eight to spare, he
used them for half-title and verso. Wherever in the notes that follow I
have satisfied myself that an absence of half-title is correct, I have
drawn attention to that absence; wherever nothing is said, the silence
should be taken to signify that in perfect copies half-titles must
appear.
(v) In the matter of binding it was the custom from about 1830 to 1850
to issue many books both in cloth and in paper boards. The old fashion
for boards and labels died hard, and doubtless the trade found it paid
to humour at once the enthusiast for the new cloth and the conservative
lover of ancient ways. The collector who has the choice of a book either
in cloth or in boards (with which must be understood boards,
half-cloth[1]) and lacks either inclination or money to buy the two
should, if condition be equally good, buy the copy in boards. Such a
copy _may be_ of earlier but _cannot_ be of later issue than one in
cloth. Should the book be one of which the two styles were issued
simultaneously the copies will rank equally, although even in such cases
a board copy is preferable, seeing that probably fewer were published
than of those in cloth, and certainly fewer have survived.
Footnote 1:
For convenience' sake the word “cloth” is used throughout these
bibliographies to signify woven material used in binding. Technically,
in the transition period between bound books and those fully bound,
half-binding was carried out in “canvas,” cloth proper being of
somewhat later date.
The phrase “boards (half-cloth) paper labels” is used in these
bibliographies to describe books which may be found _both_ in full-board
_and_ half-cloth styles. The colours of board and canvas vary greatly,
as different tones were often used for books belonging to one edition.
(vi) It will be noticed that in the majority of cases I give the _month_
as well as the year of a novel's publication. This, had it been
possible, I would wish to have supplied throughout, for by its help
alone can the vexed question of dated catalogues be properly determined.
Unfortunately, with the disappearance _in toto_ of many publishing
firms, the absorption of others under new names, and the surprising lack
of any complete files of lists and catalogues for the decades in
question, it has been impossible in every case to fix the dates thus
accurately. In determining the various issues of a first edition (for a
publisher does not bind his whole printing at once, but in lots as
required, and often at intervals of years), the date, if any, of the
catalogues of publications generally bound at the end of Victorian
novels is an essential factor. Where I give the month of publication in
the pages that follow, there can be no difficulty in detecting copies
bound up and issued after first publication. Elsewhere buyers can only
be advised to compare the date of title-page with that of catalogue. If
the latter predates or tallies with the former all _may_ be well; if the
catalogue date be later, the book is not a first issue, although still,
so far as the sheets are concerned, a copy of the first edition. In a
few rare cases, where numerous catalogues were printed during the same
year, the earliest date found in any particular first edition of that
year can be established only by experience. It is for this reason that
identity of year between title-page and catalogue _may_ rather than
_must_ indicate a true first issue.
(vii) Advice as to condition is easily given.
Never buy a rebound book or one of which the edges have been shaved.[2]
Footnote 2:
In this, as always, generalization fails. The vast majority of the
books here listed were first issued _uncut_; there are, however, a
few—and those among the books of later date—that were published cut.
The collector can identify these, if in original binding, by comparing
measurement with that here given.
Be wary of books in cloth which bear no publisher's imprint on the
spine; a few are right, but the majority are remainder-bound. Only in
the very early days of cloth binding were spines unimprinted. Of course
_labelled_ books, whether in boards or half-cloth, never show
publishers' imprint at the tail of their spines.
Always examine end-papers. The quality of Victorian end-papers cannot be
obtained to-day, and it is rare that the substitution in one book of an
old end-paper from another is so neatly done as to defy detection.
Library labels and their horrid traces have no place in a fine copy. If,
however, a buyer inclines to accept ex-library copies pending better
fortune, he should prefer those marked _inside_ front covers to those of
which the actual cloth is disfigured. Should the choice be between a
copy in disfigured cloth and one of which the cloth is clean but the
end-papers renewed to obliterate some previous damage, the wise buyer
will take the first and leave the second. Better a dirty original than a
book neat but doctored.
Do not reject an otherwise good copy of a book because the case is loose
or the back-stitching perished. Such deterioration is easily and
painlessly repaired.
In the case of books illustrated with etchings or steel engravings,
compare the date often to be found on the plates with that on the
title-page. These dates should tally, or, if they do not, thought or
examination of prefatory matter should show the reason why.
Several cases exist of books reissued more than once, but without
printed indication of reissue, in a style identical with that of the
first edition. In such cases the plates, more often than not, bear their
silent witness, and the careful buyer, momentarily uncertain of his
dates, is saved the purchase of a book he does not want.
(viii) The volumes listed which I have not myself seen and examined are
asterisked and thus expressly noted as catalogued without personal
investigation. As may be imagined, some of the obscurer works of the
authors dealt with are extremely rare, and all my seeking has failed to
discover some of them. In every other case personal handling has
preceded analysis, even although collation may already have existed in
published form.
(ix) In conclusion I would appeal to any reader of my book who can
emend, develop, or dispute the statements therein contained to send me
forthwith his criticisms and suggestions. To work of this kind can be no
finality. Freak copies, copies containing catalogues of earlier date,
copies in earlier varieties of binding—of such things is the sport of
bibliography composed. No individual can be sure that one particular
issue of any book is the earliest; comparative certainty comes only from
cooperation. Wherever possible I have compared several copies of the
same book, but this was by no means everywhere. Consequently to look
forward to revision and yet more revision is, in the circumstances, a
matter for hope rather than one for shame.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Perhaps the most pleasant element in the compiling of this book has been
the generosity and enthusiasm with which persons able to help have
responded to inquiries.
Among those who have contributed of their private knowledge facts that
but for them I could never have discovered, Mr. Richard Bentley must
have first place. Unique as an authority on Victorian publishing, Mr.
Bentley not only replied promptly and in detail to my importunate
inquiries, but made suggestions and gave information—often at
considerable personal trouble—which have greatly extended the scope and
utility of my book.
Other publishers and editors were no less ready to give me access to
such records of the past as were still in their keeping. To Mr. Arthur
Waugh (of Messrs. Chapman and Hall), to Mr. Kelk and to Mr. Barnard (of
Messrs. Longmans, Green), to Mr. Spalding (of Messrs. Chatto and
Windus), to Mr. Herbert Virtue (of Messrs. Virtue and Co.), to Mr.
Farquharson and to Mr. Leonard Huxley (of Messrs. John Murray), to Mr.
Marston (of the “Publishers' Circular”), I tender my best thanks.
Gratitude must next be expressed to booksellers and owners of books
whose contribution differed in kind but not in degree from that of the
foregoing. Mr. Walter Spencer put his unrivalled stock of Victorian
first editions wholly at my disposal, thus enabling me to examine many
rare items not elsewhere discoverable. He also lent me a series of
autograph letters from which certain details were obtainable. To Messrs.
Bain and Messrs. Maggs I owe opportunities of seeing books necessary to
my list. Mr. Hugh Walpole gave me access to his private collection, and
Mr. Cecil Davis, Mr. J. A. Green, and Mr. Clement Shorter helped to a
clearer understanding of the bibliography of Captain Marryat and of Mrs.
Gaskell.
Further, I should like to set down my appreciation of the facilities
afforded to me by the authorities of the British Museum and of the
Bodleian Library. Their willingness to shorten in my favour the tedious
process of extracting scattered volumes from their stores and vaults
saved much fatigue and hours of valuable time.
To my mother, to my wife, and to one of my publishers I owe thanks for
friendly collaboration at points where two heads and four hands had more
than twice the value of half their number. Lastly, and perhaps mostly, I
am indebted, for secretarial assistance and for help in the labour of
research, to Miss Martha Smith, whose accuracy and devotion have halved
my personal toil.
ANTHONY TROLLOPE
1815-1882
ANTHONY TROLLOPE[3]
Trollope's novels, like those of Jane Austen, are of the very essence of
fiction. Whatever they may lack in verbal subtlety, in passion, in
tragedy or in comedy of idea, they never lack that spiritual skeleton
without which no structure of a story-teller's imagining can survive.
Palaces more delicate, more romantic, more brilliant and more terrible
than those of Trollope have been erected and have stood to win the
admiration of posterity; but their splendour and their beauty are due
more to the solid material that upholds their walls and roofs than to
the skill and fancy of their decoration. Other palaces, because they
lacked such invisible but vital solidity, have drawn for an hour the
fickle favour of the crowd and then toppled into dust. It is easy, in
fiction, to create a nine days' wonder, but hard indeed to win the
esteem of ninety years.
Footnote 3:
For his consent to the reprinting of this Essay I am grateful to the
Editor of the “Nineteenth Century and After.”
Trollope has achieved that victory. Oblivion can now never be his, for
he has lived his bad times and survived. As must any artist worth the
name, he suffered eclipse—temporary, indeed, but so severe as at one
time to threaten permanence. He was scorned as dowdy and parochial by
the brilliant metropolitans of a succeeding generation. Only in the
hearts of quiet folk and among readers uninstructed in the genius of
their own time were his books remembered and cherished.
Until, slowly and slowly, opinion has begun to change. Quality has
outstayed vogue, and the latter comes smirking back to the smiles of a
lover yesterday despised. Indeed, Trollope is in a fair way to become
once again the fashion. For a while he will be honoured by the
enthusiasm of the intellectuals. Then, when they have turned their
volatile benevolence to some other quarter, he will settle firmly in the
respect of the critical. And that will at once be fame and his deserts.
Any summary analysis of Trollope's individual novels is wellnigh
impossible, in view not only of the bulk of his work but also of its
scope and richness of content. His quality is more intangible and at the
same time more concentrated than that of the other writers treated in
this book. “Of all the needs a book has, the chief need is that it be
readable,” wrote Trollope himself. And again: “The primary object of a
novelist is to please.” Readability has, in these latter days, become a
term of condescension. But that is the fault of a superior age, and for
the ten who use the word contemptuously there are ten thousand who, did
they care to do so, would give it an older and a more honourable
meaning. To them, as always to the large public of novel-readers,
fiction, when it is not costume-romance, mystery-story, or topical
propaganda, is a revelation of their own lives. It is this demand for an
expression of emotions in which the normal reader can share that
Trollope so amazingly satisfies. No précis of plot, no indication of
social setting, of character types, nor of period, can in his case
convey the essence of any particular novel.
Nevertheless his stories fall into certain specific categories, some of
which form actual series of tales with characters reappearing from
volume to volume, while others, although severally independent and
self-contained, may be classified as belonging to one type of fiction or
to another.
The best known group of novels is that dealing with the society of the
city of Barchester and of the surrounding neighbourhood. _The Chronicles
of Barsetshire_, as they have been called, are six in number:
THE WARDEN (1855),
BARCHESTER TOWERS (1857),
DOCTOR THORNE (1858),
FRAMLEY PARSONAGE (1861),
THE SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON (1864), and
THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET (1867).
Although these famous stories undoubtedly contain much of Trollope's
best work, they do not contain the whole of it. It is a mistake to
suppose that they rank altogether higher than his other books, and one
of the most disastrous results of the disfavour into which his novels
fell after their author's death is that a wealth of really first-rate
material, just because it is included in books of which the late
eighties chose to forget the titles, lies hidden to-day and withdrawn
from the enjoyment of modern readers.
Cases of such unmerited neglect are encountered immediately and among
the novels of Trollope's second continuous and interconnected series.
The “political” stories, like those of Barsetshire, are six in number:
CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? (1864),
PHINEAS FINN (1869),
THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS (1873),
PHINEAS REDUX (1874),
THE PRIME MINISTER (1876), and
THE DUKE'S CHILDREN (1880).
It is truly remarkable to what an extent these admirable tales have
fallen into oblivion. Not only do they introduce many of Trollope's most
masterly characters, but they present, vividly and with knowledge, the
minds and manners of the political aristocracy, the social hangers-on,
the Tadpoles and Tapers of the day. Speaking generally, the social
setting of the political novels is different from that of _The
Chronicles of Barsetshire_. Indeed, it could hardly be otherwise, seeing
that the whole series takes its tone from the personalities of
Plantagenet Palliser and his wife Lady Glencora, who, as the stories
progress and by natural course of inheritance, become the Duke and
Duchess of Omnium and the greatest of English nobility. Trollope's
method is not slavishly to serialize the life story of any individual
character or pair of characters. All the political novels have their own
clearly defined plot. They are, however, all tinged with the compelling
personalities of Lady Glencora and her husband, into which Trollope
threw all that he had of art and enthusiasm.
_Can You Forgive Her?_ is a long novel, concerned primarily with the
troubles of a motherless girl who breaks an engagement with an
oppressively upright man in order to return to a youthful love affair
with a dissipated and unscrupulous cousin. Mr. Grey, the honourable man,
gets in the end the wife he wants; but Trollope does not hesitate to
show fairly the preference of a high-spirited girl for an adventurous
rascal, and there will be many who, when the book is finished, will
regret—a little ashamedly—that virtue has ultimately triumphed. In the
life story of Lady Glencora _Can You Forgive Her?_ is important, for it
pictures her newly married and literally on the verge of running away
from her shy, proud, inarticulate husband, with a beautiful young
reprobate, whose previous intimacy with her the reader may imagine at
his discretion. The fallibility of Lady Glencora is skilfully contrasted
with that of Alice Vavasor, the heroine of the book; their circumstances
are so similar, and yet the young women react to them so differently!
_Phineas Finn_ is a tale of political ambition. The hero, by whose name
the book is called, is a poor Irishman who comes to seek his fortune in
Parliament. The ups and downs of his career; Lady Laura Kennedy, who
loves him but from family pressure marries millions; Madame Max Goesler,
the fascinating, mysterious widow who rejects flattering if dubious
proposals from the old Duke of Omnium, combine with a mass of other
material to make a really dramatic story that is continued, and equally
well continued, in _Phineas Redux_.
Not the least remarkable feature of the second of these two books is the
hero's trial for murder. Trollope has a genius for trial scenes, and to
my mind it is an open question whether that in _Phineas Redux_ is not
finer than its more celebrated predecessors in _The Three Clerks_ and in
_Orley Farm_.
_The Eustace Diamonds_ turns on the personality of Lizzie Eustace, a
selfish but attractive little woman who keeps possession, in the teeth
of lawyers and of her late husband's relations, of certain priceless
jewels to which she has no right whatever. There are two or three
subplots in the story, all of good quality; but the character of Lizzie
Eustace, who, for all her lying and her insincerity and her cheap
smartness, is seductive and appealing, stands out as the book's
essential achievement.
_The Prime Minister_ and _The Duke's Children_ are the only two novels
of the political series in which Plantagenet Palliser, now Duke of
Omnium, is admittedly the central figure. The former book is so
constructed as to give prominence to the love affair and unhappy
marriage of Emily Wharton with Ferdinand Lopez, a stock gambler and
commercial adventurer. But although the history of the Lopez ménage is
admirably told, and gives scope for the reintroduction of Lizzie
Eustace, as well as other strange and disreputable people, the story of
the first premiership of the Duke of Omnium is the real story of the
book. By the time he came to the writing of _The Prime Minister_,
Trollope had become deeply interested in presenting in the person of the
Duke his ideal conception of an English aristocrat. No praise can be too
high for the skill with which he implies, but does not describe, the
divergent qualities of ambition possessed by the Duke and by his wife.
Throughout the book she is for ever striving to make him in the eye of
the world the greatest gentleman of the greatest kingdom of all time.
He, on the other hand, sees in his position only duty and responsibility
and disappointment. Not the least of his troubles are his wife's
insistence that the life of a public man is never private, and her
expressed conviction that give and take is the essence of political
compromise and therefore of premiership.
In the interval between _The Prime Minister_ and _The Duke's Children_
the Duchess of Omnium dies. The unhappy Duke is left to find, if he may,
in the achievements of his children that completeness and success to
secure which he feels that he has himself so utterly failed. Everything
goes awry. His only daughter gives her love to an unknown and penniless
commoner. His younger son, after ragging through his university career,
resorts disastrously to cards and racing. Finally, his heir—Lord
Silverbridge—stands for Parliament in the opposite interest to that of
his father, and, worse still, turns from the girl the Duke has chosen as
his bride, in order to throw his title and prospects at the feet of the
beautiful daughter of an American savant. The Duke struggles against his
own humanity; slowly and unhappily, as is his way, he adjusts himself to
the changing times; at the last he sacrifices his ideals of nobility to
personal affection. _The Duke's Children_ worthily closes a series of
fine novels. In some ways this last story of the political group is the
best, and it speaks a good deal for the author's power of sustained
imagination that he contrived, over a period of sixteen years, to
maintain the interest and develop the vitality of so complex a
collection of characters.
The rough classifications of novels in themselves independent may, out
of respect for chronology, begin with the stories of Irish life. _The
Macdermotts of Ballycloran_ (1847), _The Kellys and the O'Kellys_
(1848), _Castle Richmond_ (1860) and _The Landleaguers_ (1883), are the
four books which belong, properly speaking, to this category. Of course
there are Irish scenes in many other novels, for Trollope lived for
years in Ireland, knew it well and loved it, and was for ever
introducing Irishmen and Irish incidents into his work. The books above
mentioned are, however, wholly and deliberately novels about Ireland.
The first two have the faults of very early work, in that they are
prolix and lack that control of character and material that marks the
experienced novelist. Both, however, are worth reading, and the plot of
_The Kellys_ needs no excuse on the score of inexperience. _Castle
Richmond_, however, is definitely an unsuccessful book. It is packed
with information about the Irish famine, and the story is
over-melodramatic for Trollope's method. One of his most characteristic
qualities as a novelist is his refusal to keep the reader in suspense.
In direct contrast to Wilkie Collins, he goes out of his way to explain,
as he comes to it, each seemingly inexplicable event. It is as though he
scorns to save himself the trouble of characterization by erecting
between himself and the reader a screen of mystery. For this reason, the
secret power exercised by the unsavoury Molletts over Sir Thomas
Fitzgerald is, because it soon ceases to be secret, a weak foundation
upon which to erect a story. _The Landleaguers_, the book left
unfinished by Trollope when he died, is concerned to present the social
condition of Ireland in the early eighties, as was _Castle Richmond_ to
depict that of the famine-ridden forties. And yet what a difference! In
_The Landleaguers_ the novelist presents his picture of politics in his
actual story. There are no passages of blue-book instructionalism, but
it is doubtful whether a more vivid impression of the state of Ireland
at the time can be obtained from any other source. Even if there were no
others among Trollope's old-age novels to disprove the theory, _The
Landleaguers_ alone should put an end to the contention that toward the
end of his life he had lost his cunning or written himself out.
* * * * *
It is now necessary to examine that large and heterogeneous collection
of novels which, from one point of view or another, satirize
contemporary life or present some definite aspect of the English social
scene. Let me once more insist that the classification of Trollope's
books here attempted should not be understood too literally. All the
Barchester novels, all the political novels, are in one sense wholly
presentments of society; in the same way many of them contain passages
definitely satirical. But they have other claims to special grouping
which the numerous isolated stories now to be considered do not possess;
and, while satire is mainly incidental to the tales of Barchester and to
those of political life, it is in some at least of Trollope's other
books the principal purpose of the story.
First, then, the books which may fairly be termed books of social
satire. The earliest in date is _The Bertrams_, which, although the
situations and characters are of the kind which Trollope was to make
essentially his own, is a failure even more complete than _Castle
Richmond_. The central theme is one to which the author more than once
returns. Caroline Waddington rejects George Bertram for reasons of
income and prospects. She marries his successful lawyer friend, only to
find that she has sold herself to a greedy tyrant. The parallel case of
Julia Brabazon and Harry Clavering immediately suggests itself; but
where in _The Claverings_ Trollope achieves an intense humanity, in _The
Bertrams_ he is dully mechanical. He allows the subsidiary plots to
disturb and obscure his main story. When, as frequently, he attempts the
comic in social enjoyment he comes clumsily to grief. The widow's
seaside picnic in _Can you Forgive Her?_ has only to be contrasted with
the excursion from Jerusalem described in _The Bertrams_ to make clear
the difference between successful and unsuccessful satire. And yet there
are points in _The Bertrams_. The close-fisted old man, the disposal of
whose money provides the motive of most of the incident, is drawn with
consistent restraint. There are touches in the description of society at
Littlebath that prepare the reader for the pleasure of _Miss Mackenzie_.
On the whole the book should be read. It is Trollope “off” (or rather
“not yet on to”) his game, but it was published at an important moment
in his career and helps to make clear his subsequent development.
_Rachel Ray_ (1863) and _Miss Mackenzie_ (1865) may, without any
critical licence, be considered together. Both are bitter satires on
Evangelical Christianity. Trollope inherited from his mother a hatred of
the brimstone school of religious teachers, and in these novels he lets
himself go with considerable effect. The earlier of the two books
contains comparatively few characters, and those of modest social
position. Rachel herself is delightful and gives to the book, despite
its obvious weaknesses of construction, a freshness and charm that is
very pleasing. Mrs. Prime and her horrible clerical admirer are frankly
caricature, but that they should be so is not unnatural, seeing that
they represent the very puritanism that the book is intended to attack.
In _Miss Mackenzie_ we are given the story of a spinster of thirty-five,
to whom unexpectedly a small fortune is bequeathed. She becomes
immediately the quarry of fortune hunters—shabby social, religious, and
commercial. Some of the best scenes in the story are staged in
Littlebath, where Miss Todd and Miss Baker (who help to retrieve _The
Bertrams_ from disaster) make welcome reappearance. As satire the novel
is more dexterous than _Rachel Ray_, but it lacks the attraction of a
real Trollope heroine, and throughout has a faint tinge of the sordid.
It is interesting to note on page 242 of the second volume a mention of
Lady Glencora Palliser, whom Trollope had 'presented' in _Can you
Forgive Her?_
Not until 1875 did Trollope publish another definitely satirical novel.
When he did so, the event marked an important stage in his evolution as
a novelist. Critics had begun to grumble at comedies of manners, which
spoke of the suavity of yesterday rather than of the competitive hustle
of to-day. England was moving step by step along the road to
commercialism. Trollope, with his county and clerical families, his
political aristocrats and comic tuft-hunters, was shrugged aside as out
of date. Such treatment was intolerable, and, with a gesture half
impatient, half appealing, he sent out into the world _The Way We Live
Now_. This long and crowded novel—perhaps, with the exception of _The
Last Chronicle of Barset_, the most abundant of all his books—presents,
in the person of Mr. Melmotte, the financial magnate of alien origin
proper to a truly modern story of English life. Whether the cavillers,
whose complaints spurred Trollope to so violent an effort, admitted,
after reading _The Way We Live Now_, that the old dog could in truth
out-modern the best of them, history does not relate; but undeniably
this book, in which he asserted his vitality and showed that in the
matter of satiric observation he was well abreast of the times, has no
lack of vigour or luxuriant invention.
That _Mr. Scarborough's Family_ (1883) may reasonably be said to
conclude the list of Trollope's satirical novels is perhaps disputable.
And yet, because its power is mainly ironic, I prefer to mention it here
rather than treat of it as a purely social story. A while ago one
example was quoted of a first-rate book from Trollope's last period.
_Mr. Scarborough's Family_ is another.
An aged and wealthy cynic suddenly (and, as it turns out, with
deliberate falsehood) makes public the illegitimacy of his eldest son.
With the complications of inheritance, with the changing relations
between old Mr. Scarborough and his two sons, of whom the elder is now
destitute and the latter coldly triumphant in his unexpected good
fortune, is involved an elaborate second plot, centring round the love
story of an amiable young man, whose fortunes depend on the favour of a
peevish and eccentric uncle. Analysis of a tale so full of happening and
character is impossible in a few lines. Sufficient to say that _Mr.
Scarborough's Family_, were it not for the date on its title-page, might
be thought to belong to a much earlier period, not only of Trollope, but
of fiction as a whole, to a period more lavish than subtle, more genial
and full-blooded than detached and sensitive.
With _The Three Clerks_ (1858) opens the chronology of those novels
which, although partially satirical, are in the main straightforward
stories of English cultivated life. _The Three Clerks_ is one of the few
Trollope novels that has been seriously overrated. In its pages Mr.
Chaffanbrass, the notorious Old Bailey lawyer, makes his first
appearance, but he is infinitely more effective in _Orley Farm_ and in
_Phineas Finn_ than at his first entrance on the Trollope stage. In so
far as _The_ _Three Clerks_ gives a picture of the Civil Service that
the author himself knew, it has documentary value, but as fiction it is
formless and flaccid. Its young women are wholly devoid of that
freshness and frankness that place Trollope, as a creator of femininity,
apart from all other novelists of his generation; its menfolk are either
riotous dummies like those in Smedley's novels, or prigs and villains,
compounded so slavishly by recipe as to have little meaning beyond that
of the conventional types they represent.
Of _Orley Farm_ (1862) it is unnecessary to speak, the novel being one
of the two or three outside the Barchester series which are still read
to-day. _The Belton Estate_ (1866), on the other hand, badly needs
rehabilitation. Henry James, in a review written when quite a young man,
concluded a long paragraph of hostile criticism with the words: “_The
Belton Estate_ is a stupid book.” One may venture that the obtuseness
was not all on one side. Using a cast of four principal and as few
subsidiary characters, Trollope fills three good volumes with the
matrimonial dilemma of Clara Amedroz, who has to choose between the
uncouth, well-to-do farmer to whom passes her thriftless father's
estate, and the polished, self-seeking Captain Aylmer—in parlance,
though not in fact, also her cousin—who offers her marriage because at
the deathbed of his rich aunt and as part condition of becoming her heir
he swore to do so. _The Belton Estate_ has, to a greater degree than any
other of Trollope's books, that art of concealing art which delights one
type of mind, but by another is dismissed as “stupid.” In a sense it is
the most difficult to appreciate of all the important novels, and, were
an examination in Trollope a thing of practical import, the examining
board would be wise to make this book the test question of their paper.
_The Claverings_ (1867) and _He Knew He Was Right_ (1869) are very long
books, each of which turns on a theme highly characteristic of the
author. Mention has already been made of Julia Brabazon, heroine of the
former book, who jilts the nobody she loves for a rich invalid peer. The
price she has to pay is counted in full in the pages of _The
Claverings_, which also introduce a number of excellent characters, from
Sir Hugh Clavering, hard, savage, and selfish, to Sophie Gordeloup and
her scoundrelly brother, who play so desperately for the wealth and
person of Lord Ongar's lonely and embittered widow. _He Knew He Was
Right_ describes the steady growth in a husband's mind of unjust
suspicion of his wife's fidelity. As a crescendo of hysterical mistrust,
the book is a fine piece of sustained writing. As a novel, it would be
gloomy and distressing but for an admirable and humorous by-plot laid in
cathedral Exeter. It would, perhaps, be hypercritical and unappreciative
of his adroit handling of incident to blame the author for the very
liberal use of coincidence with which he aids the progress of his story.
Of the six social novels that remain, one is first-rate, three are very
good second-rate, one is ordinary second-rate and the last frankly bad.
_Is He Popenjoy?_ (1878) may rank with _The Claverings_ as a book
undeservedly excluded from the upper room of every Trollope-lover's
mind. The Dean of Brotherton, son of a jobmaster, father of the heroine
and ultimately grandfather of a marquis, is a Trollope dignitary of the
first water. His daughter is as eminent in the world of heroines as is
her father in that of ecclesiastics. She is gay, loving, whimsical,
courageous, and always natural. Her dour husband with his excessive
sense of duty and inadequate sense of humour; her aristocratic
sisters-in-law, shrouding in ill-nature and good works the emptiness of
their lives and purses; the society siren; the society matchmaker; and
perhaps above all the ill-tempered, dissolute marquis, on the legitimacy
of whose son turns the whole mechanism of the story, are each one of
them fictional characters that only a master could create.
_Ralph The Heir_ (1871)—the plot of which was pirated by Charles Reade
and dramatized under the title _Shilly Shally_—contains some good
characters and perhaps the best parliamentary election of all those
contrived by its author. The troubles and difficulties of the shy,
ineffective Sir Thomas Underwood, and the determination of Mr. Neefit,
the breeches-maker, to buy up a bankrupt young squire as husband for his
daughter would give distinction to any story. _Lady Anna_ (1874) is a
delicate elaboration of Trollope's favourite motif—projected or (as in
this case) actual misalliance. _The American Senator_ (1877) contains
some excellent hunting and much good general observation. _Ayala's
Angel_ (1881), like _The Belton Estate_ but less pronouncedly, is a book
that must be read to be realized, for it is quiet Trollope and a thing
of shades rather than one of definite, contrasted colours.
There remains _Marion Fay_ (1882), once again a tale of misalliance.
This is undeniably the worst book that its author ever wrote. Everywhere
but here he contrives to keep either his hero or his heroine (and more
frequently both) sympathetic, sensible, and convincingly normal; but in
_Marion Fay_ he sinks to mawkishness and to a deathbed scene that is
frankly inexcusable.
* * * * *
Plenty of novels still remain of this astonishing and untiring writer.
They may, however, be somewhat summarily dismissed. The most interesting
group is that of the short, single-theme stories which succeeded the
publication of _The Way We Live Now_. It is not unreasonable to
attribute to the mood of challenge in which that novel was sent out the
noticeable change in the author's method during the years that followed.
It is as though he had determined to try his hand at the psychological
analysis which was just coming into fashion among novelists. And so we
are given in quick succession six little books, each written round a
single event or describing the reactions of one individual to a definite
set of circumstances. The titles are as follow:
AN EYE FOR AN EYE (1879),
COUSIN HENRY (1879),
DOCTOR WORTLE'S SCHOOL (1881),
THE FIXED PERIOD (1882),
KEPT IN THE DARK (1882),
AN OLD MAN'S LOVE (1884).
It so happened that _An Eye for An Eye_ was written before the
publication of _The Way We Live Now_, although not published until some
while after. It is, however, clearly the product (if an unconscious one)
of the same impulse as gave birth to the other books, and its theme—the
struggle in the mind of a young Englishman between pride of family and
desire to fulfil a marriage promise to a girl who has become his
mistress—is a theme of the type peculiar to these six brief stories and
distinctly foreign to Trollope's more bulky and eventful work.
A further group of five stories may roughly be termed Trollope's
“oversea” novels. The first three—_Nina Balatka_ (1867), _Linda Tressel_
(1868), and _The Golden Lion of Granpere_ (1872)—were written more or
less intentionally to form a distinct trio. They are semi-romantic
tales, staged respectively in old Prague, in old Nürnberg, and among the
Vosges mountains; pleasant enough, but quite definitely of minor
importance. The first two were published anonymously but achieved little
success, and were later reissued over the author's name. _Harry
Heathcote of Gangoil_ (1874) and _John Caldigate_ (1879) are novels of
Australia, based on the knowledge of that continent which the author
gained when visiting one of his sons who had established himself there.
I understand that as pictures of Australian life they are vivid and
reliable. Be that as it may, the untutored reader, seeking only for
Trollope, will find him abundantly in _Harry Heathcote_, which is an
eventful, almost an adventurous story, and to a very satisfying degree
in the longer book that appeared five years later.
Of Trollope's various volumes of short stories nothing need here be
said. Of _Sir Harry Hotspur of Humblethwaite_ (1871) there is little
that can be said. Of _The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson_
(1870) there is much that had better be left unsaid. One important
full-length novel remains, good in itself and at the same time
remarkable as the only one of the author's tales in which he arms
himself formally as a social crusader.
_The Vicar of Bullhampton_ (1870) is a novel written in defence of the
“fallen woman.” It is quaint to read Trollope's solemn and tactful
preface, in which he almost apologizes to his public for venturing on
such indelicate ground. Fortunately the book is so feeble as propaganda
that, but for the preface, one would be unaware that it was written with
any special purpose. It can be enjoyed as a good story of village life,
with a delightful parson as central figure and the necessary complement
of charming Trollope ladies, gruff farmers, lonely landowners, and
aggressive Nonconformity.
This novel, like all Trollope's really good work, impresses the reader
first and foremost with its Englishry. Perhaps it would not be too much
to say that the very greatness of the author himself springs from this
same quality. He is intensely English, with the quiet humour, the shy
sympathy masquerading as indifference, the delicate sense of kindliness
and toleration, the occasional heaviness, the occasional irritability,
that mark a man or a book as English. But if to these qualities he owes
his place in our proud heritage of literature, to them also he owes the
tarrying of due recognition, for they and the natures that possess them
are of all qualities and of all natures the most difficult to impress
upon the sceptical outsider, seeing that their very beauty and
preciousness and power lie in their elusiveness.
_BIOGRAPHY_
ANTHONY TROLLOPE: HIS WORK, ASSOCIATES AND LITERARY ORIGINALS. By T.
H. S. ESCOTT. London: John Lane, 1913.
This book will be of interest to the general reader, although it is
rather overloaded with analyses of novel-plots and the arrangement is
not ideal.
By far the most valuable feature of the volume is the bibliography of
Trollope by Margaret Lavington included at the end. For the help this
careful and documented compilation has given me I wish to make
acknowledgment, although I have throughout worked independently and from
original sources and taken none of the facts hereafter given without
verification. Miss Lavington's descriptions lack certain details
essential to the collector, she makes one or two actual mistakes, but,
within the limits she has laid down for herself, her work is wonderfully
complete and accurate.
I.—EDITIONES PRINCIPES
FICTION, BIOGRAPHY, TRAVEL-BOOKS, ESSAYS, ETC.
1847
THE MACDERMOTTS OF BALLYCLORAN. By Mr. A. TROLLOPE. London: Thomas
Cautley Newby, Publisher, 72 Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square.
1847. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (ii) + 345 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 382.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 437 + (1).
No half-titles. Boards, half-cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
Also in dark brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow
end-papers.
NOTE—On the title-page of Vol. III. “Mortimer” should be
spelt “Morimer.” In the same volume, p. 437 is mis-paged
“743.” Copies of the first edition were reissued in 1848
with title-pages so dated and differently worded, but with
no indication of reprint. On this second title-page the
misprint is corrected. The wording is as follows:
THE MACDERMOTTS OF BALLYCLORAN: A Historical Romance. By A. TROLLOPE,
Esq., author of _The Kellys and the O'Kellys_. London: T. C. Newby,
72 Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square. 1848.
1848
THE KELLYS AND THE O'KELLYS: Or LANDLORDS AND TENANTS. A Tale of Irish
Life. By A. TROLLOPE, Esq. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great
Marlborough Street. 1848. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (ii) + 298.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 298.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 285 + (1). Publisher's catalogue, 24 pp.,
undated, bound in at end.
No half-titles. Paper boards (half-cloth), paper label. White
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1848.
1850
LA VENDÉE: An Historical Romance. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, Esq. London:
Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1850. 3 vols.
Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 320.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 330.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 313 + (1). No half-title to this volume.
Publisher's advertisement occupies p. (314). Publisher's catalogue,
16 pp., undated, bound in at end.
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1850.
1855
THE WARDEN. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Longman, Brown, Green and
Longmans. 1855. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo. (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. iv + 336. No
half-title. Publishers' catalogue, 24 pp., dated September, 1854,
bound in at end. Pale brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Brick-red
end-papers printed on inside front and inside back covers with
publishers' advertisements.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in January, 1855. An
edition of 1,000 copies was printed, of which 600 were sold
during the first eighteen months of publication. The balance
of 400 was bound, very nearly uniform with the first issue,
in 1858 and a catalogue dated with that year inserted at
end.
(ii) In 1879 Chapman and Hall published, under the series
title _Chronicles of Barsetshire_, Trollope's novels dealing
with the city and district of Barchester. _The Warden_ was
the first volume of this reissue, and was preceded by a
brief introduction by Trollope not previously published.
1857
BARCHESTER TOWERS. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _The Warden_.
London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. 1857. 3 vols.
Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 305 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(307) and (308). Advertisement of _The Warden_ occupies p. (ii).
Half-title to this volume.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 299 + (1). No half-title.
Vol. III. pp. iv + 321 + (3). No half-title. Publishers'
advertisements occupy pp. (323) and (324).
Pale brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Brick-red end-papers
printed with publishers' advertisements.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1857. The earliest
issue had end-papers of a much redder brown than those used
for later bindings of the first edition sheets. The latter
can also be identified by the date of a publishers'
catalogue bound in at the end of Vol. I.
1858
THE THREE CLERKS: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Barchester
Towers_ etc. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1858. 3
vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 340.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 322 + (2).
Vol. III. pp. iv + 334 + (2).
No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White
end-papers. Also in dark grey-purple watered cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind, with yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) Although dated 1858, this book was actually
published in December, 1857.
(ii) I have seen a copy of this book in a binding of the
grey-purple cloth above mentioned, but with paper labels as
employed on the half-cloth edition.
1858
DOCTOR THORNE: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _The Three
Clerks_, _Barchester Towers_ etc. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1858. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 305 + (3). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
April, 1858, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 323 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. iv + 340.
No half-titles. Dark grey-purple cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale
green end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1858.
1859
THE BERTRAMS: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Barchester
Towers_, _Doctor Thorne_ etc. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1859. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 335 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 344.
Vol. III. pp. iv + 331 + (1).
No half-titles. Dark grey-purple cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This novel was published in March, 1859.
1859
THE WEST INDIES AND THE SPANISH MAIN. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of
_Barchester Towers_, _Doctor Thorne_, _The Bertrams_ etc. London:
Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1859. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾).
Pp. iv + 395 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated November,
1859, bound in at end. No half-title. Coloured map printed
separately facing title. Maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in October, 1859.
(ii) It is possible that the earliest copies of all
contained no publishers' catalogue, but I have been unable
to find a copy with a catalogue dated earlier than that
mentioned above.
1860
CASTLE RICHMOND: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Barchester
Towers_, _Doctor Thorne_, _The West Indies and the Spanish Main_
etc. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1860. 3 vols. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 303 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (vi) [p. vi is erroneously numbered iv] + 300.
Vol. III. pp. vi + 289 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
May, 1860, bound in at end.
Dark grey-purple cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1860.
1861
FRAMLEY PARSONAGE. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Barchester Towers_
etc. etc. With 6 illustrations by J. E. Millais, R.A. London: Smith
Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. MDCCCLXI. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 333 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 318 + (2).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 330 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 14 pp., dated
April, 1861, bound in at end.
No half-titles. Each volume contains two line-engraved illustrations
printed separately. Grey-purple cloth, blocked in gold and blind.
Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1861. The story
appeared serially in the “Cornhill.”
1861
TALES OF ALL COUNTRIES. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Barchester
Towers_, _Doctor Thorne_, _The West Indies and the Spanish Main_.
London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1861. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo
(4¾ × 7¾). Pp. (iv) + 312. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
November, 1861, bound in at end. No half-title. Blue embossed cloth,
gilt, blocked in blind. Bright blue end-papers.
_Contents_: La Mère Bauche—The O'Conors of Castle Conor—John
Bull on the Guadalquivir—Miss Sarah Jack, of Spanish Town,
Jamaica—The Courtship of Susan Bell—Relics of General
Chassé—An Unprotected Female at the Pyramids—The Château of
Prince Polignac.
NOTE—This book was published in November, 1861.
1862
ORLEY FARM. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Doctor Thorne_,
_Barchester Towers_, _Framley Parsonage_ etc. With illustrations by
J. E. Millais. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1862. 2
vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 320. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
October, 1861, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 320.
Each volume contains twenty illustrations. Brown-purple embossed
cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
This story originally appeared in twenty demy 8vo one shilling
parts, dated March (1861) to October (1862), bound in fawn wrappers
printed in blue and red, and containing the illustrations by J. E.
Millais afterwards included in the two-volume edition. Each part
contains two illustrations.
NOTE—The first volume of this novel was published in book
form on December 3, 1861; the second volume on September 25,
1862. Both title-pages are, however, dated 1862.
ORLEY FARM: PART ISSUE.
The following advertisement pages, etc., should be found in
a complete set. The advertisements at the front of each
number are headed: “Orley Farm Advertiser.” All wrappers
except front covers are printed with advertisements.
_Part I: Front_—16 pp., dated March, 1861. _Back_—10 pp.,
unnumbered, of which the first two on pink paper.
_Part II: Front_—8 pp., dated 1861. _Back_—4 pp.,
unnumbered, of which the first two on yellow paper.
_Part III: Front_—8 pp., dated May, 1861. _Back_—2 pp.,
unnumbered, on lilac paper.
_Part IV: Front_—8 pp., dated June, 1861. _Back_—2 pp.,
unnumbered, on pale yellow paper.
_Part V: Front_—8 pp., dated July, 1861. _Back_—4 pp.,
unnumbered, of which the first two on lilac paper.
_Part VI: Front_—Inset slip of yellow paper advertising the
serialization in “Great Expectations” of _A Strange Story_,
by Lytton. 8 pp., dated August, 1861. _Back_—6 pp.,
unnumbered, of which the first two on yellow paper, the
third in coloured lithograph, the fifth and sixth on pink
(or green) paper, the fifth being blank and a sample of
cambric frilling being attached to the sixth.
_Part VII: Front_—8 pp., dated September, 1861. _Back_—4
pp., unnumbered, of which the first printed in colours, and
the last two a foolscap 8vo leaflet on blue paper
advertising “The Queen.”
_Part VIII: Front_—8 pp., dated October, 1861. _Back_—2 pp.,
unnumbered, on pale yellow paper.
_Part IX: Front_—8 pp., dated November, 1861. _Back_—nil.
_Part X: Front_—8 pp., dated December, 1861. _Back_—2 pp.,
unnumbered, on yellow paper. [_Note_—This part contains
half-title, title, contents and list of illustrations (in
all 8 pp.) to Volume I.]
_Part XI: Front_—8 pp., dated January, 1862. _Back_—12 pp.,
unnumbered.
_Part XII: Front_—8 pp., dated February, 1862. _Back_—2 pp.,
unnumbered, on pale yellow paper.
_Part XIII: Front_—Inset slip of yellow paper advertising
the serialization in “All the Year Round” of _No Name_, by
Wilkie Collins. 8 pp., dated March, 1862. _Back_—4 pp.
_Part XIV: Front_—8 pp., dated April, 1862. _Back_—8 pp., of
which the first two (unnumbered) are on blue paper, the next
four are numbered, and the last two unnumbered.
_Part XV: Front_—8 pp., dated May, 1862. _Back_—12 pp., of
which 1-4 unnumbered and the rest a publishers' catalogue
paged (1) to 8 and dated April 25, 1862.
_Part XVI: Front_—8 pp., dated June, 1862. _Back_—10 pp., of
which the first two (unnumbered) are on yellow paper and the
remainder are a publishers' catalogue paged (1)-8 and dated
April 25, 1862.
_Part XVII: Front_—8 pp., dated July, 1862. _Back_—4 pp.
_Part XVIII: Front_—8 pp., dated August, 1862. _Back_—6 pp.,
unnumbered, of which the first two on green paper.
_Part XIX: Front_—8 pp., dated September, 1862. _Back_—4 pp.
_Part XX: Front_—8 pp., dated October, 1862. _Back_—12 pp.,
of which the first two unnumbered and on orange paper, the
next two unnumbered, and the remainder a publishers'
catalogue paged (1)-8 and dated September 24, 1862.
[_Note_—This part contains half-title, title, contents and
list of illustrations (in all 8 pp.) to Volume II.]
1862
NORTH AMERICA. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _The West Indies and the
Spanish Main_, _Doctor Thorne_, _Orley Farm_ etc. London: Chapman
and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1862. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 467 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
May, 1862, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 494 +(2).
In Vol. I. a folding map is inserted facing p. 1. Maroon embossed
cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1862.
1863
TALES OF ALL COUNTRIES: Second Series. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London:
Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1863. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ ×
7¾). Pp. (iv) + 371 + (1). No half-title. Blue embossed cloth, gilt,
blocked in blind. Uniform with _Tales of All Countries_: First
Series. Pale yellow end-papers.
_Contents_: Aaron Trow—Mrs. General Talboys—The Parson's
Daughter of Oxney Colne—George Walker at Suez—The Mistletoe
Bough—Returning Home—A Ride Across Palestine—The House of
Heine Brothers in Munich—The Man Who Kept His Money in a
Box.
NOTE—This book was published in February, 1863.
1863
RACHEL RAY: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Barchester
Towers_, _Castle Richmond_, _Orley Farm_ etc. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1863. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 319 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 310 + (2).
No half-titles. Maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Cream
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1863.
1864
THE SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With 18
illustrations by J. E. Millais, R.A. London: Smith Elder and Co., 65
Cornhill. MDCCCLXIV. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 312.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 316.
No half-titles. Vol. I. contains ten illustrations, and Vol. II.
eight illustrations. Green embossed cloth, blocked in gold and
blind. Chocolate end-papers, printed with publishers'
advertisements.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1864, and completed
its serial run in the “Cornhill” the month following.
1864
CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Orley Farm_,
_Doctor Thorne_, _Framley Parsonage_ etc. With illustrations.
London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1864. [1865, Vol. II.] 2
vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 320.
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 320.
Vol. I. contains twenty etched illustrations by Phiz, and Vol. II.
twenty illustrations [by a Miss Taylor], all printed separately. Red
embossed cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Yellow end-papers.
This story originally appeared in twenty demy 8vo one shilling
parts, dated January, 1864, to August, 1865, bound in fawn paper
wrappers printed in blue and red, and containing the illustrations
afterwards included in the two-volume edition. Each part contains
two illustrations.
NOTE—The first volume of this novel appeared in book form on
October 1, 1864, the second volume in August, 1865. The
title-pages are dated differently.
CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?: PART ISSUE.
The following advertisement pages, etc., should be
found in a complete set. The advertisements at the
front of each number are headed “Can you Forgive Her?
Advertiser.” All wrappers, except front cover, are
printed with advertisements.
_Part I: Front_—8 pp., dated January, 1864. _Back_—14 pp.,
of which the first two unnumbered on buff paper, the next
four printed in blue on white paper, and the remainder a
publishers' catalogue paged 1-8 and dated January 1, 1864.
_Part II: Front_—4 pp., dated February, 1864. _Back_—2 pp.,
unnumbered, on pink paper.
_Part III: Front_—4 pp., dated March, 1864. _Back_—6 pp.
_Part IV: Front_—4 pp., dated April, 1864. Between pp. 2 and
3 an inset slip on green paper advertising the part issue of
Dickens' _Our Mutual Friend_. _Back_—8 pp., of which the
first two on yellow paper and unnumbered, the second two
unnumbered, and the remainder a publishers' catalogue paged
1-4 and dated April 1st, 1864.
_Part V: Front_—4 pp., dated May, 1864. _Back_—14 pp., of
which the first four paged 1-4, the next two a reproduction
on green paper of the wrapper of Part I of _Our Mutual
Friend_, and the remainder a publishers' catalogue paged 1-8
and dated April 30, 1864.
_Part VI: Front_—4 pp., dated June, 1864, and printed on
buff paper as wrapper. _Back_—14 pp., of which the first
four and the publishers' catalogue the same as in Part V. A
wrapper of _Our Mutual Friend_, this time of Part II,
completes the total.
_Part VII: Front_—4 pp., dated July, 1864, printed on buff
paper as wrapper. _Back_—2 pp., unnumbered, on yellow paper.
_Part VIII: Front_—4 pp., dated August, 1864, printed on
buff paper as wrapper. _Back_—4 pp., numbered 1-4.
_Part IX: Front_—4 pp., dated September, 1864, printed on
buff paper as wrapper. _Back_—Inset slip of yellow paper
announcing the serialization in “All the Year Round” of
_Never Forgotten_, by the author of _Belladonna_. 2 pp.,
unnumbered, on yellow paper.
_Part X: Front_—4 pp., dated September [sic], 1864, printed
on buff paper as wrapper. In later issues “September”
corrected to October. _Back_—8 pp., of which the last four a
publishers' catalogue paged 1-4 and dated October 1, 1864.
[_Note_—This part contains half-title, title, contents and
list of illustrations (in all 8 pp.) to Volume I. It is also
the last part illustrated by Hablot K. Browne.]
_Part XI: Front_—4 pp., dated November, 1864, and printed on
buff paper as wrapper. _Back_—6 pp., of which 1-4 on lilac
(or blue) paper. [_Note_—Although the illustrator had
already been changed, the wrapper to this part still bears
the name of H. K. Browne.]
_Part XII: Front_—4 pp., dated December, 1864, printed on
buff paper as wrapper. Inset slip on yellow paper announcing
_Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy_ as Christmas number to “All the
Year Round.” _Back_—8 pp., of which the last four a
publishers' catalogue paged 1-4 and dated November 25.
_Part XIII: Front_—4 pp., undated and printed on buff paper
as wrapper. _Back_—2 pp., of which the first printed in
lilac.
_Part XIV: Front_—4 pp., undated and printed on buff paper
as wrapper. _Back_—Inset slip of green paper and 2 pp.
unnumbered, printed on yellow.
_Part XV: Front_—4 pp., undated and printed on buff paper as
wrapper. _Back_—Inset slip of blue paper and publishers'
catalogue 4 pp., dated February 28, 1865. Inset slip on
white paper advertising the part issue of the _Headless
Horseman_, by Captain Mayne Reid.
_Part XVI: Front_—4 pp., undated, printed on buff paper as
wrapper. _Back_—Inset slip of yellow paper announcing the
serialization in “All the Year Round” of _Half a Million of
Money_, by Amelia B. Edwards. 6 pp., of which the last four
on pink paper.
_Part XVII: Front_—4 pp., undated and printed on buff paper
as wrapper. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XVIII: Front_—4 pp., undated and printed on buff paper
as wrapper. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XIX: Front_—4 pp., undated and printed on buff paper
as wrapper. _Back_—8 pp., unnumbered, of which the first
four on pale blue paper.
_Part XX: Front_—4 pp., undated and printed on buff paper as
wrapper. _Back_—Nil. [_Note_—This part contains half-title,
title, contents and list of illustrations (in all 8 pp.) to
Volume II.]
1865
MISS MACKENZIE. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1865. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 312.
Vol. II. pp. vi + 313 + (3). Advertisement of works by the same
author occupies p. (315).
Maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in March, 1865.
(ii) A binding of dark green cloth is more frequently seen
than that of maroon, but it is fairly certain that the
latter is really the first issue. I have come to this
conclusion after a study of other publications, for binding
which the two types of cloth used for _Miss Mackenzie_ were
employed. Both are patterned cloths, but differently
patterned. That used in maroon for _Miss Mackenzie_ was also
used—differently coloured, of course—for Trollope's _Tales
of All Countries_ (1861); Ainsworth's _Constable of the
Tower_ (1861); Mrs. Gaskell's _Round the Sofa_ (1859) and
_Right at Last_ (1860); Charles Allston Collins' _Cruise
Upon Wheels_ (1862); and Reade's _Love me Little, Love me
Long_ (1859). The pattern of cloth, on the other hand, used
in dark green for _Miss Mackenzie_ reappears on Trollope's
_Belton Estate_ (1866); Ainsworth's _John Law_ (1864); and
Wilkie Collins' _My Miscellanies_ (1863). I think these
facts provide sufficiently conclusive evidence that the
maroon cloth is of an earlier pattern than the dark green.
Publishers were probably inclined, then as now, to use one
type of cloth more than another at certain given dates
(possibly they tended to adopt novelties as produced by
their binders). This is independently suggested by the fact
that in the year 1863 alone an identical pattern of cloth
was used and by various publishers for Ainsworth's _Cardinal
Pole_, for Mrs. Gaskell's _A Dark Night's Work_, for George
Eliot's _Romola_, and for Mrs. Oliphant's _Perpetual
Curate_.
1865
HUNTING SKETCHES. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Reprinted from the “Pall Mall
Gazette.” London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1865. 1 vol. Cr.
8vo (4⅞ × 7½). Pp. iv + 115 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp.,
dated May, 1865, bound in at end. No half-title. Red cloth gilt,
blocked in blind. Green-black end-papers.
_Contents_: The Man who Hunts and Doesn't Like It—The Man
who Hunts and Does Like It—The Lady who Rides to Hounds—The
Hunting Farmer—The Man who Hunts and Never Jumps—The Hunting
Parson—The Master of Hounds—How to Ride to Hounds.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1865.
1866
THE BELTON ESTATE. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Can you Forgive
Her?_, _Orley Farm_, _Framley Parsonage_ etc. etc. London: Chapman
and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1866. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 284.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 308.
Vol. III. pp. iv + 276.
Publishers' catalogue, 24 pp., dated December 1, 1865, bound in at
end. No half-titles. Scarlet embossed cloth, gilt, blocked in blind.
Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in January, 1866. The story
appeared serially in the “Fortnightly Review.”
1866
TRAVELLING SKETCHES. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Reprinted from the “Pall
Mall Gazette.” London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1866. I
vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7½). Pp. iv + 112. Publishers' catalogue, 24 pp.,
dated February 1, 1866, bound in at end. No half-title. Red cloth,
gilt, blocked in blind. Green-black end-papers. Uniform with
_Hunting Sketches_.
_Contents_: The Family that Goes Abroad Because it's the
Thing to Do—The Man who Travels Alone—The Unprotected Female
Tourist—The United Englishmen who Travel for Fun—The Art
Tourist—The Tourist in Search of Knowledge—The Alpine Club
Man—Tourists who Don't Like their Travels.
NOTE—This book was published in February, 1866.
1866
CLERGYMEN OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Reprinted
from the “Pall Mall Gazette.” London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1866. I vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7½). Pp. (iv) + 130 + (2).
Publishers' catalogue, 24 pp., dated March 30, 1866, bound in at
end. No half-title. Red cloth, gilt. Green-black end-papers. Uniform
with _Hunting Sketches_ and _Travelling Sketches_.
_Contents_: The Modern English Archbishop—English Bishops,
Old and New—The Normal Dean of the Present Day—The
Archdeacon—The Parson of the Parish—The Town Incumbent—The
College Fellow who has Taken Orders—The Curate in a Populous
Parish—The Irish Beneficed Clergyman—The Clergyman who
Subscribes for Colenso.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1866.
1867
NINA BALATKA: THE STORY OF A MAIDEN OF PRAGUE. Wm. Blackwood and Sons,
Edinburgh and London, MDCCCLXVII. 2 vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 228 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(229) (230).
Vol. II. pp. 215 + (I). Publishers' advertisements, 8 pp., undated,
bound in at end.
The words: “Originally published in 'Blackwood's Magazine'” occupy
verso of half-title in each volume. Red-brown cloth, gilt, blocked
in blind. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on February 1, 1867.
1867
THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With 32
illustrations by George H. Thomas. London: Smith Elder and Co., 65
Cornhill. MDCCCLXVII. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 384.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 384.
No half-titles. Each volume contains sixteen illustrations printed
separately, and line drawings in the text at the beginnings of
several of the chapters. Violet-blue cloth, blocked in gold and
blind. Yellow end-papers.
This story originally appeared in thirty-two sixpenny demy 8vo parts
dated December 1 (1866) to July 6 (1867), bound in white wrappers
with a design in scarlet and dark blue, and containing the
illustrations afterwards included in the two-volume edition. Each
part contains one illustration.
NOTES—(i) Vol. I. of the novel in book form was published on
March 16, and Vol. II. on July 6, 1867.
(ii) The words “With 32 illustrations by George H. Thomas”
occur only on the title-page of Vol. II.
THE LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET: PART ISSUE.
The following advertisement pages, etc., should be found
in a complete set. Advertisements at the front of each
part are printed on lilac paper, except where otherwise
stated. All wrappers, except front covers, are printed
with advertisements.
_Part I: Front_—4 pp., unnumbered, on grey paper; 8 pp.,
numbered 1-8. _Back_—10 pp., of which the first is printed
in colours and the last four on yellow paper (or green).
_Part II: Front_—8 pp., numbered 9-16. _Back_—4 pp., of
which the first is printed in colours and the last two on
blue paper (or pink).
_Part III: Front_—8 pp., numbered 17-24. _Back_—Inset slip
(4 pp.) of Chapman and Hall publications.
_Part IV: Front_—4 pp., unnumbered, on grey (or lilac)
paper; 4 pp., numbered 25-28. _Back_—Nil.
_Part V: Front_—4 pp., numbered 29-32. _Back_—2 pp., of
which the second is printed in colours.
_Part VI: Front_—4 pp., numbered 33-36. _Back_—Inset slip (4
pp.) on yellow paper.
_Part VII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 37-40. _Back_—Nil.
_Part VIII: Front_—Inset slip (4 pp.) of Chapman and Hall
publications (as at back of Part III). 4 pp., numbered
41-44. _Back_—Nil.
_Part IX: Front_—4 pp., numbered 45-48. _Back_—Nil.
_Part X: Front_—4 pp., numbered 49-52. _Back_—4 pp.,
unnumbered.
_Part XI: Front_—Inset slip (4 pp.) of Chapman and Hall
publications (as in Parts III. and VIII.); 4 pp., numbered
53-56. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 57-60. _Back_—2 pp.,
unnumbered, of which the second printed in colours.
_Part XIII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 61-64. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XIV: Front_—4 pp., numbered 65-68. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XV: Front_—4 pp., numbered 69-72. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XVI: Front_—4 pp., numbered 73-76; inset slip of lilac
paper announcing the appearance of Vol. I. of _The Last
Chronicle of Barset_ at ten shillings. _Back_—Nil.
[_Note_—This part contains title-page, contents and list of
illustrations (in all 4 pp.) to Vol. I.]
_Part XVII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 77-80. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XVIII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 81-84; inset slip of
lilac paper announcing the appearance of Vol. I. of The Last
Chronicle of Barset at ten shillings. _Back_—2 pp.,
unnumbered, of which the second printed in colours.
_Part XIX: Front_—4 pp., numbered 85-88. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XX: Front_—4 pp., numbered 89-92. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXI: Front_—4 pp., numbered 93-96. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 97-100. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXIII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 101-104. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXIV: Front_—4 pp., numbered 105-108. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXV: Front_—4 pp., numbered 109-112. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXVI: Front_—4 pp., numbered 113-116. _Back_—Inset
slip (4 pp.) advertising the “Charles Dickens Edition” of
Dickens' works.
_Part XXVII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 117-120. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXVIII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 121-124. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXIX: Front_—4 pp., numbered 125-128. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXX: Front_—4 pp., numbered 129-132. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXXI: Front_—4 pp., numbered 133-136. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXXII: Front_—4 pp., numbered 137-140; inset slip of
lilac paper announcing the completion of _The Last Chronicle
of Barset_ in 2 volumes at 20s. _Back_—Nil. [_Note_—This
part contains title-page, contents and list of illustrations
(in all 4 pp.) to Vol. II.]
1867
THE CLAVERINGS. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With 16 illustrations by M. Ellen
Edwards. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. MDCCCLXVII. 2
vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 313 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(315) and (316).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 309 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(311) and (312).
No half-titles. Each volume contains eight illustrations printed
separately. Bright green cloth, blocked in black and gold. Pale
chocolate end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on April 20, 1867. The
story appeared serially in the “Cornhill.”
(ii) There are two varieties of binding to this book. It is
an open question whether the simpler design with no black on
the sides is earlier or later than that which is more
elaborate.
1867
LOTTA SCHMIDT: AND OTHER STORIES. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Alexander
Strahan, Publisher, 56 Ludgate Hill, London. 1867. 1 vol. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4⅞ × 7¾). Pp. (iv) + 403 + (1). Dark red cloth, gilt.
Green-black end-papers.
There is no list of contents. Titles are as follow:
Lotta Schmidt—The Adventures of Fred Pickering—The Two
Generals—Father Giles of Ballymoy—Malachi's Cove—The
Widow's Mite—The Last Austrian who Left Venice—Miss
Ophelia Gledd—The Journey to Panama.
NOTE—This book was published in August, 1867. The original
sheets were reissued in 1870, without indication of there
having been an earlier edition. The reissue is cr. 8vo in
size, pp. (vi) + 425 + (1), bears the imprint “Strahan and
Co.,” and is bound in pale maroon cloth. Later still copies,
taken over in sheets by Chapman and Hall and also dated
1870, were issued in bright green cloth, with chocolate
end-papers, printed with Chapman and Hall advertisements.
1868
LINDA TRESSEL. By the author of _Nina Balatka_. Wm. Blackwood and
Sons, Edinburgh and London. MDCCCLXVIII. 2 vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ ×
6¾).
Vol. I. pp. 216.
Vol. II. pp. 215 + (1).
The words: “Originally published in 'Blackwood's Magazine'” occupy
verso of half-title in each volume. Red-brown cloth, gilt, blocked
in blind. Chocolate end-papers. Uniform with _Nina Balatka_.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1868.
1869
PHINEAS FINN, THE IRISH MEMBER. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With 20
illustrations by J. E. Millais, R.A. London: Virtue and Co., 26 Ivy
Lane, Paternoster Row. 1869. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾).
Vol. I. pp. vi + (ii) + 320.
Vol. II. pp. vi + (ii) + 328.
No half-titles. Ten illustrations in each volume printed separately.
Bright green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
It may be noted that the author's name is not given on the spine of
this book.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1869. The same novel
still in two volumes and at the same price (25s. net) was
advertised in May, 1869, by Strahan and Co., who were at the
time closely identified with Virtue and Co. Copies with a
Strahan imprint, if such exist, are not of the first issue.
The story appeared serially in “St. Paul's Magazine.”
1869
HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With 64 illustrations by
Marcus Stone. Strahan and Co., Publishers, 56 Ludgate Hill, London.
1869. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8⅝).
Vol. I. pp. ix + (iii) + 384.
Vol. II. pp. ix + (iii) + 384.
Each volume contains sixteen illustrations printed separately and
sixteen line drawings in the text. Green cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
This story first appeared in thirty-two demy 8vo sixpenny weekly
parts, dated October 17 (1868) to May 22 (1869), bound in green-grey
paper wrappers, printed in red and black. Each part contains a
full-page line-engraved illustration by Marcus Stone, printed
separately, and one small drawing in the text. Each part, as well as
the title-page, etc., included in Part XXXII. bears the imprint of
Virtue and Co., but the novel, when issued in book form, appeared
over the imprint of Strahan and Co.
NOTES—(i) Four weeks after the appearance of Part I. (early
in November, 1869) a parallel series of two-shilling
_monthly_ parts was inaugurated, of which the first,
containing the first four weekly parts, was immediately
issued, and the remainder at regular intervals. The earliest
part issue was therefore the weekly one. Margaret Lavington
in her Trollope bibliography, states that the first four
parts were wrappered in one. This observation was probably
made from an examination of a made-up set of parts composed,
as to the first four, of the second issue and, as to the
remainder, of the first (see above).
(ii) The story appeared in two-volume form in May, 1869.
HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT: PART ISSUE.
The following advertisement pages, etc., should be found in
a complete set. Advertisements at the front of each part are
printed on greenish blue paper except where otherwise
stated. All wrappers except front covers are printed with
advertisements.
_Part I: Front_—6 pp. _Back_—4 pp.
_Parts II to XXIX: Front_—4 pp. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXX: Front_—Inset slip of orange paper announcing the
serialization in “S. Paul's” of _The Three Brothers_, by
Mrs. Oliphant. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXXI: Front_— Nil. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XXXII: Front_—Nil. _Back_— Nil. [_Note_— This part
contains half-title, titles, contents and lists of
illustrations (in all 24 pp.) to _both_ volumes of the
novel.]
1869
*DID HE STEAL IT? A Comedy in three Acts. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Printed
for private circulation. 1869.
NOTE—This is a dramatization of an episode in _The Last
Chronicle of Barset_, which Trollope prepared by special
request, only to have the play rejected by the commissioning
manager.
1870
THE VICAR OF BULLHAMPTON. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With 30 illustrations
by H. Woods. London: Bradbury, Evans and Co., Bouverie Street. 1870.
1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾). Pp. xvi + 481 + (11). Publishers'
advertisements occupy pp. (483) to (492). Brown cloth, blocked in
gold and black. Grey end-papers.
This story originally appeared in 11/12 demy 8vo monthly parts, dated
July 18, 1869, to May 18, 1870. Parts I. to X. cost one shilling,
and the last double part (XI./XII.) half-a-crown. The parts are
bound in blue-grey paper wrappers, with a design in red and black,
and contain the illustrations afterwards included in the one-volume
edition. Parts I. to X. each contain two full-page illustrations;
Part XI./XII. contains four, of which one is a picture title-page.
NOTE—The novel was published in volume form in April, 1870.
THE VICAR OF BULLHAMPTON: PART ISSUE.
The following advertisement pages, etc., should be found
in a complete set. The advertisements at the front of
Parts I. to III. are headed “The Vicar of Bullhampton
Advertiser.” All wrappers, except front covers, are
printed with advertisements.
_Part I: Front_—12 pp., dated July, 1869. _Back_—4 pp.,
printed in colours and unnumbered.
_Part II: Front_—4 pp., dated August, 1869. _Back_—Nil.
_Part III: Front_—4 pp., dated September, 1869. _Back_—Nil.
_Parts IV to X_ inclusive contain no advertisement pages.
_Part XI_ (double number): _Front_ (or back)—10 pp.,
publishers' advertisements, unnumbered and undated.
[_Note_—This part contains half-title, title, preface,
contents, list of illustrations and frontispiece to the
complete novel. This preliminary matter is paged (i)-xvi,
despite the fact that frontispiece and title-page (4 pp.)
are printed separately.]
1870
AN EDITOR'S TALES. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Strahan and Co., Publishers,
56 Ludgate Hill, London. 1870. 1 vol. Sq. Ex. Cr. 8vo (5⅛ × 7¾). Pp.
(viii) + 375 + (1). Publishers' advertisement occupies p. (376).
Brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Chocolate end-papers.
_Contents_: The Turkish Bath—Mary Gresley—Josephine de
Montmorenci—The Panjandrum—The Spotted Dog—Mrs. Brumby.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1870. The stories had
appeared in “St. Paul's Magazine.”
1870
THE STRUGGLES OF BROWN, JONES AND ROBINSON: BY ONE OF THE FIRM. Edited
by ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Framley Parsonage_, _The Last
Chronicle of Barset_ etc. etc. Reprinted from the “Cornhill
Magazine.” With four illustrations. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 15
Waterloo Place. 1870. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7½). Pp. iv + 254 + (2).
Advertisements of works by the same author occupy pp. (255) and
(256). No half-title. Frontispiece and illustrated title-page, in
line engraving and printed separately, precede the printed title.
Brown cloth, blocked in black and gold. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in November, 1870. The story
had appeared serially in the “Cornhill” in the years 1861
and 1862. Its unpopularity as a serial accounts for the
delay in its book publication.
1870
THE COMMENTARIES OF CÆSAR. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. William Blackwood and
Sons, Edinburgh and London. MDCCCLXX. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Pp. (x) [paged as vi] + 182. Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(i) to (iv), and a list of volumes in the Series “Ancient Classics
for English Readers” occupies p. (vi), facing title-page. Brown
cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Chocolate end-papers.
1871
SIR HARRY HOTSPUR OF HUMBLETHWAITE. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of
_Framley Parsonage_ etc. London: Hurst and Blackett, Publishers, 13
Great Marlborough Street. 1871. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. vii +
(1) + 323 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., undated but paged,
bound in at end. Scarlet cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Black
end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1871, this book was actually published
in November, 1870. The story appeared serially in
“Macmillan's Magazine.”
1871
RALPH THE HEIR. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Framley Parsonage_,
_Sir Harry Hotspur_ etc., etc. London: Hurst and Blackett,
Publishers, 13 Great Marlborough Street. 1871. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ ×
7⅜).
Vol I. pp. (iv) + 342. Advertisement of _Sir Harry Hotspur_ occupies
p. (ii) facing title.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 338.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 347 + (1).
Publishers' advertisements, 16 pp., printed on text paper and paged,
bound in at end. Brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Blue-black
end-papers.
This story originally appeared in parts, which were issued as
supplements to “St. Paul's Magazine.” The instalments were paged
continuously, but separately from the rest of the magazine.
Parts I. to XI. were enclosed in fawn paper wrappers printed in
black and red and dated January, 1870, to November, 1870. Parts XII.
to XVIII. were not wrappered at all, but merely stitched in at the
end of the numbers of the magazine with their own pagination. The
series contained eleven full-page line-engraved illustrations by F.
A. Fraser, the last of which appeared in Part XI.
Apart from that printed on the back wrappers of Parts I. to XI., no
advertisement material was included with the part issue. Title-page
and contents (4 pp.) for the one-volume edition were supplied with
the eighteenth and last instalment.
Although the real first book edition of the novel (published in
April, 1870) was in three volumes cr. 8vo. as described above, the
type and illustrations of the “St. Paul's” issue were used in a
one-volume demy 8vo (5⅝ × 7⅞) edition (pp. iv + 434—no half-title or
list of illustrations) issued by Strahan and Co. in 1871, after the
story's serial completion. This one-volume edition is bound in green
cloth, gilt, blocked in blind, and has dark yellow or terra-cotta
end-papers.
NOTE—The three-volume edition was published on April 6,
1871. I have failed to establish the exact publishing date
of the one-volume edition, but it was in June or July of the
same year. Oddly enough the later issue is rarer than the
earlier, for the sheets were quickly taken over by Routledge
and issued in a different binding in 1872.
1872
THE GOLDEN LION OF GRANPERE. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Ralph the
Heir_, _Can you Forgive Her?_ etc. London: Tinsley Bros., 18
Catherine Street, Strand. 1872. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (5⅛ × 7¾). Pp.
(iv) + 353 + (9). Publishers' advertisements, paged 1 to 6 and dated
May, 1872, occupy pp. 355 to 363. Red-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in
black. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in May, 1872. The story
appeared serially in “Good Words.” It had been written in
1867 for “Blackwood's,” but had proved unacceptable.
(ii) Copies are sometimes found in dark brown cloth,
lettered and blocked less heavily and with lighter boards.
These are probably later in issue.
1873
THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall,
193 Piccadilly. 1873. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 354.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 363 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. viii + 354.
Brown salmon cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1873, this book was actually published
in December, 1872. The story appeared serially in the
“Fortnightly Review.”
1873
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1873. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8½).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) [paged as vi] + 533 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 516.
Vol. I. contains a coloured map as frontispiece printed on text
paper, and two folding coloured maps mounted on linen at end. Vol.
II. contains folding coloured map mounted on linen facing p. 1; four
folding coloured maps mounted on linen at end. Orange brown cloth,
gilt, blocked in black. Dark green end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in March, 1873.
(ii) The text was later split up and issued in four small
volumes, each dealing with a definite province or provinces
of Australia and New Zealand. These little books have no
importance as “editions,” for they contain no matter not
include in the original two-volume issue.
1874
PHINEAS REDUX. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Phineas Finn_. With
illustrations engraved on wood. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1874. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8⅛).
Vol. I. pp. vi + (ii) + 339 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. vi + (ii) + 329 + (3).
Each volume contains twelve illustrations printed separately. Blue
cloth, gilt, blocked in black and gold. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1874, this book was actually published
in December, 1873. The story appeared serially in “The
Graphic.”
1874
LADY ANNA. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1874. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 317 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. viii + 314.
Red-brown cloth, blocked in black and gold. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1874. The story
appeared serially in the “Fortnightly Review.”
1874
HARRY HEATHCOTE OF GANGOIL: A Tale of Australian Bush Life. By ANTHONY
TROLLOPE. London: Sampson, Low, Marston, Low and Searle, Crown
Buildings, 188 Fleet Street. 1874. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. (iv)
+ 313 + (3). Publishers' catalogue, 48 pp., dated October, 1873,
bound in at end. No half-title. Bright blue cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind. Cream end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in October, 1874. The
story appeared serially in “The Graphic.”
(ii) The sheets of this edition were, in the year of
publication, cut down and issued in a volume measuring 4½ ×
6¾, together with six full-page line-engraved illustrations,
printed separately. This later issue is bound in green or in
violet cloth, blocked in gold and black, and contains at the
end a 40 pp. publishers' catalogue dated October, 1874.
1875
THE WAY WE LIVE NOW. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With forty illustrations.
London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1875. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½
× 8½).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 320.
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 319 + (1).
Each volume contains twenty illustrations printed separately. Bright
green cloth, blocked in gold and black. Dark brown end-papers.
This story originally appeared in twenty one-shilling demy 8vo
parts, dated February, 1874, to September, 1875, bound in
greenish-blue wrappers printed in black and containing the
illustrations afterwards included in the two-volume edition. Each
part contains two full-page illustrations.
NOTE—The novel appeared in book form in July, 1875.
THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: PART ISSUE.
The following advertisement pages, etc., should be
found in a complete set. The advertisements at the
front of each number are headed: “The Way We Live Now
Advertiser.” All wrappers, except front covers, are
printed with advertisements.
_Part I: Front_—8 pp. _Back_—16 pp., paged in fours, of
which the last eight publishers' lists.
_Parts II to VIII: Front_—4 pp. _Back_—Nil.
_Part IX: Front_—4 pp. _Back_—4 pp.
_Parts X to XV: Front_—4 pp. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XVI: Front_—4 pp. _Back_—Publishers' catalogue, 20
pp., dated April 10, 1875.
_Parts XVII to XIX: Front_—4 pp. _Back_—Nil.
_Part XX: Front_—4 pp. _Back_—Nil. [_Note_—This part
contains half-titles, titles, contents and lists of
illustrations (in all 16 pp.) to both volumes of the novel.]
1876
THE PRIME MINISTER. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1876. 4 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) [paged as vi] + 337 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 342.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) [paged as vi] + 346.
Vol. IV. pp. (iv) [paged as vi] + 347 + (1).
No half-titles. Red-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Cream
end-papers.
This story originally appeared in eight cr. 8vo five-shilling parts,
dated 1876 (no title-pages in Parts I., III., V., and VII.), bound
in grey paper wrappers, printed in black. Part I. appeared in
November, 1875, and subsequent numbers at intervals of one month.
NOTES—(i) The novel was published in volume form in May,
1876.
(ii) Sets of the parts are sometimes met with, bound
separately in red-brown cloth and lettered on spine only
with the title of the book and the number of the part. I
cannot establish the relative dates of the regular
four-volume cloth issue and of the eight clothbound parts.
THE PRIME MINISTER: PART ISSUE.
Apart from that printed on the wrappers, no advertisement
material was included with the parts of this novel, save
that at front of Part VI was inserted a 4 pp. leaflet (4 ×
6⅜) of Chapman and Hall's Popular Two Shilling novels. Note
should, however, be taken of the incidence of preliminary
matter.
_Part I_: (iv) + 1-162. The preliminary matter consists of:
Section half-title, reading: PART I., Vol. I. Verso blank.
Title, reading: _The Prime Minister_. By Anthony Trollope.
London: Chapman and Hall, 193, Piccadilly. 1876. Verso
blank. _No_ list of contents.
_Part II_: (ii) + 163-337 + (1). Preliminary matter: Section
half-title: PART II., Vol. I. Verso blank.
_Part III_: (vi) [paged as iv] + 1-170. Preliminary matter
consists of: Section half-title, reading: PART III., Vol.
II. Verso blank. Title, as in Part I. Verso blank. Contents
of Vol. II. (2 pp.).
_Part IV_: (iv) + 171-342. Preliminary matter: 2 pp. blank.
Section half-title: PART IV., Vol. II. Verso blank.
_Part V_: vi + 1-174. Preliminary matter consists of:
Section half-title, reading: PART V., Vol. III. Verso blank.
Title, as in Parts I. and III. Verso blank. Contents of Vol.
III. (2 pp.).
_Part VI_: (iv) + 175-346. Preliminary matter: 2 pp. blank.
Section half-title: PART VI. Verso blank.
_Part VII_: vi + 1-168. Preliminary matter consists of:
Section half-title reading: PART VII., Vol. IV. Verso blank.
Title, as in Parts I., III., and V. Verso blank. Contents of
Vol. IV. (2 pp.).
_Part VIII_: (ii) + 169-347 + (1). Preliminary matter.
Section half-title: PART VIII. Verso blank.
It is evident, from a comparison between the foregoing
details and the collation of the four-volume edition
previously described, that the publishers were compelled, to
complete the latter, to print a contents list to Vol. 1. and
to add the words “In four volumes, Vol. 1.,” etc., to the
title-pages. It will be seen that they had so mismanaged the
pagination of the preliminary matter during part issue, that
only one of the four final volumes was correctly paged
throughout.
1877
THE AMERICAN SENATOR. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall,
193 Piccadilly. 1877. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 293 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. viii + 293 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. viii + 284.
Yellow-ochre cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in July, 1877. The story
appeared serially in the “Temple Bar Magazine.”
(ii) There is a remainder binding for this book, but the
blocking is lighter and the sheets are cut to a smaller
size.
1878
SOUTH AFRICA. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1878. 2 vols. Sq. Ex. Cr. 8vo (5¼ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (1) + 352.
Vol. II. pp. vii + (1) + 352.
Folding map in colours faces p. 1 of Vol. I. Red cloth, gilt,
blocked in blind. Black end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1878.
1878
IS HE POPENJOY?: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1878. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 301 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy
pp. (303) and (304).
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 297 + (3). Publishers' advertisements
occupy pp. (299) and (300).
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 319 + (1).
Red-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1878. The story
appeared serially in “All the Year Round.”
1878
HOW THE 'MASTIFFS' WENT TO ICELAND. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With
illustrations by Mrs. Hugh Blackburn. London: Virtue and Co.
Limited. 1878. 1 vol. Demy 4to (8⅝ × 11⅛). Pp. (vi) + 46. Bright
blue cloth, blocked in gold. Dark grey end-papers. Coloured map as
frontispiece in lithography; fourteen pencil drawings in
lithography, and two silver print photographs, mounted, throughout
the text. All illustrations printed separately.
1879
AN EYE FOR AN EYE. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1879. 2 vols. Small Cr. 8vo (4⅝ × 7⅛).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) [paged as vi] + 215 + (1). Publishers' catalogue,
32 pp., dated December, 1878, printed on text paper, bound in at
end.
Vol. II. pp. (viii) [paged as vi] + 288.
Greenish-ochre cloth, blocked in gold and black. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in January, 1879. It was,
however, written in 1871.
1879
THACKERAY. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Macmillan and Co. 1879. 1 vol.
Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. vi + (ii) + 210 + (2). List of volumes in the
“English Men of Letters” Series occupies pp. (211) and (212). A
volume in the “English Men of Letters” Series edited by John Morley.
Buff cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in May, 1879.
(ii) The first issue was bound as described above. Later
issues of the first edition sheets were bound in scarlet or
in yellow-ochre cloth, blocked in black with the Series
design, and had black end-papers. These later copies were
slightly cut, the pages measuring 4⅞ × 7⅛.
1879
JOHN CALDIGATE. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall. 193
Piccadilly. 1879. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 290.
Vol. II. pp. vi + 296.
Vol. III. pp. vi + 302 + (2).
Grey cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in June, 1879. The story
appeared serially in “Blackwood's Magazine.”
(ii) There are two varieties in the lettering and blocking
of the volumes of this novel. In one the words “Vol. I.,”
“Vol. II.,” “Vol. III.” on the spines of the volumes are in
thicker roman capitals than in the other. There are also
slight differences of decorative blocking. Which style is
the earlier I do not know.
1879
COUSIN HENRY: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall,
193 Piccadilly. 1879. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅝ × 7⅛).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 219 + (5). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(221) to (223).
Vol. II. pp. viii + 222 + (2).
Light blue cloth, blocked uniform with “An Eye for An Eye” in black
and gold. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in November, 1879.
1880
THE DUKE'S CHILDREN: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and
Hall, Limited 193 Piccadilly. 1880. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 320.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 327 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. viii + 312.
Publishers' catalogue, 24 pp., undated but paged, bound in at end.
Dark blue-green cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Pink-cream
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1880.
1880
THE LIFE OF CICERO. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman and Hall
Limited 193 Piccadilly. 1880. 2 vols. Sq. Ex. Cr. 8vo (5⅛ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 419 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 424 + (1).
Dark red cloth, gilt. Black end-papers.
1881
DOCTOR WORTLE'S SCHOOL: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chapman
and Hall Limited, 193 Piccadilly. 1881. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) [paged as vi] + 237 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 246 + (2).
Publishers' catalogue, 28 pp., dated November, 1880, printed on text
paper, bound in at end. Grey cloth, blocked in gold and black. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This novel was published in February, 1881.
1881
AYALA'S ANGEL. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Doctor Thorne_, _The
Prime Minister_, _Orley Farm_ etc. etc. London: Chapman and Hall
(Limited) 11 Henrietta Street Covent Garden. 1881. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo
(4⅞ × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 280.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 272.
Vol. III. pp. iv + 277 + (3).
No half-titles. Orange cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Blue-black
end-papers.
NOTE—This novel was published in June, 1881.
1882
WHY FRAU FROHMANN RAISED HER PRICES: AND OTHER STORIES. By ANTHONY
TROLLOPE, author of _Framley Parsonage_, _The Small House at
Allington_ etc. etc. London: William Isbister Limited 56 Ludgate
Hill. 1882. 1 vol. Large Cr. 8vo (5¼ × 7¾). Pp. vi + (ii) + 416.
Pale olive-green cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Dark chocolate
end-papers.
_Contents_: Why Frau Frohmann Raised Her Prices—The Lady of
Launay—Christmas at Thompson Hall—The Telegraph Girl—Alice
Dugdale.
NOTES—(i) Copies of this book were also issued in two
volumes, but with the same pagination and composed of the
same sheets as the more usual one-volume issue. A new
edition, with a frontispiece, was issued in November, 1882.
(ii) In 1885, under the title _Thompson Hall_, the third
story in this volume was issued separately by Messrs.
Sampson Low. In some quarters the little book is regarded as
a first edition and highly valued accordingly, but in truth
it is not bibliographically an item of any importance, being
a textual reprint of _Christmas at Thompson Hall_, under a
slightly different title and with the addition of a few
second-rate illustrations. For the benefit of those
interested, the description and collation of the book is as
follows:
THOMPSON HALL. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _The Prime Minister_,
_Orley Farm_ etc. etc. With illustrations. London: Sampson Low,
Marston, Searle and Rivington. Crown Buildings, 188 Fleet Street.
1885. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7). Pp. 127 + (1). Publishers'
advertisements occupy pp. (iv) and (128). Eight line-engraved
illustrations printed on text paper. Grey paper boards, printed in
dark blue and brown. White end-papers.
1882
LORD PALMERSTON (English Political Leaders). By ANTHONY TROLLOPE.
London: Wm. Isbister Limited 56 Ludgate Hill, 1882. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo
(4¾ × 7¼). Pp. (iv) + 220. No half-title. Smooth red-brown cloth,
lettered in black. Black end-papers.
NOTE—This book was reissued the following year with
title-page dated 1883 but without any indication of there
having been a previous edition. The later issue is bound in
_grained_ cloth of the same colour as that originally used
and has _white_ end-papers.
1882
KEPT IN THE DARK: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. With a frontispiece by
J. E. Millais R.A. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1882. 2
vols. Short Cr. 8vo (5 × 7).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 253 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 239 + (1).
Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated July, 1882, bound in at end.
Grey-green cloth, gilt, blocked in black and red-brown. Blue and
white decorated end-papers. Line-engraved frontispiece to Vol. I.
printed separately.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1882.
1882
MARION FAY: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE, author of _Framley
Parsonage_, _Orley Farm_, _The Way We Live Now_ etc. etc. London:
Chapman and Hall Limited, 11 Henrietta Street. 1882. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo
(4⅞ × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 303 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. viii + 282 + (2).
Vol. III. pp. viii + 271 + (1).
Yellow-ochre cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Dark brown or yellow
end-papers.
1882
THE FIXED PERIOD: A Novel. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Wm. Blackwood and
Sons, Edinburgh and London, MDCCCLXXXII. 2 vols. Small Cr. 8vo (4¾ ×
7).
Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 200.
Vol. II. pp. (vi) + 203 + (1).
The words “Originally published in 'Blackwood's Magazine'” occupy
verso of half-title in each volume. Dark red cloth, gilt. Dark green
end-papers.
1883
MR. SCARBOROUGH'S FAMILY. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chatto and
Windus, Piccadilly. 1883. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 308. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
March, 1883, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 326 + (2).
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 325 + (3).
Greenish-blue cloth, gilt, blocked in red-brown. White end-papers.
NOTE—This novel was published in May, 1883. The story
appeared serially in “All the Year Round.”
1883
THE LANDLEAGUERS. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London: Chatto and Windus,
Piccadilly. 1883. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (iii) + 280. Note by Henry M. Trollope occupies p.
(ix).
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 296.
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 291 + (1).
Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated October, 1883, bound in at end.
Dark green cloth, gilt, blocked in yellow. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1883.
1883
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Wm. Blackwood and Sons,
Edinburgh and London. MDCCCLXXXIII. 2 vols. Sq. Ex. Cr. 8vo (5⅛ ×
7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. xi + (iii) + 259 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. vi + 227 + (5). Publishers' advertisements paged 1 to 4
occupy pp. (229) to (232).
Publishers' catalogue, 24 pp., undated but paged and printed on text
paper, bound in at end. Portrait in photogravure as frontispiece to
Vol. I. Dark red cloth, gilt, blocked and lettered on side in black.
Dark green end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in November, 1883.
1884
AN OLD MAN'S LOVE. By ANTHONY TROLLOPE. Wm. Blackwood and Sons,
Edinburgh and London. MDCCCLXXXIV. 2 vols. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 226.
Vol. II. pp. (vi) + 219 + (1).
Publishers' advertisements, 4 pp., numbered 1-4, and printed on text
paper, bound in at end. Red cloth, gilt, uniform with _The Fixed
Period_. Dark brown end-papers.
II.—BOOKS PARTIALLY WRITTEN BY ANTHONY TROLLOPE
1861
THE VICTORIA REGIA: A VOLUME OF ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN POETRY AND
PROSE. Edited by Adelaide A. Procter. London: Printed and Published
by Emily Faithfull and Co., Victoria Press (for the Employment of
Women), Great Coram Street, W.C. 1861. 1 vol. Royal 8vo (6¼ × 9⅜).
Pp. x + 349 + (1). No half-title. Red-brown embossed cloth, all
edges gilt, blocked in gold and blind. Red chocolate end-papers.
1863
A WELCOME: ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN POETRY AND PROSE. London: Emily
Faithfull, Printer and Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty, Princes
Street, Hanover Square, and 183A Farringdon Street. 1863. 1 vol.
Imp. 16mo (5½ × 7¾). Pp. vi + (ii) + 291 + (1). Green cloth, full
gilt, blocked in gold. Pale pink end-papers. A story by Anthony
Trollope entitled _Miss Ophelia Gledd_ occupies pp. 239 to 283. This
is the first appearance of a story later included in _Lotta Schmidt
and other Stories_.
NOTE.--Pp. 187 to 214 are occupied by a story by Anthony
Trollope entitled _The Journey to Panama_. This is the first
appearance in book form of a tale afterwards published in
_Lotta Schmidt and other Stories_.
1868
BRITISH SPORTS AND PASTIMES 1868. Edited by ANTHONY TROLLOPE. London:
Virtue and Co., 26 Ivy Lane. New York: Virtue and Yorston. 1868. 1
vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. (vi) + 322. Bright green embossed
cloth, gilt, with title printed both on spine and side. Pale yellow
end-papers.
_Contents_: On Horse-Racing—On Hunting—On Shooting—On
Fishing—On Yachting—On Rowing—On Alpine Climbing—On Cricket.
Trollope was responsible for the preface (pp. 1-7) and the
Essay “On Hunting” (pp. 70-129).
NOTES—(i) This book was published in November, 1868. The
contents had appeared in “St. Paul's Magazine.”
(ii) The sheets of the first edition were later issued
without change of date in a slightly different green
binding, without the title in gold on the side, and bearing
as imprint on spine, Daldy, Isbister and Co. The reissue was
cut down to cr. 8vo, and the end-papers were chocolate
instead of yellow.
(iii) A still later issue of the book in its reduced format
was bound in bright blue cloth, blocked in gold and black.
This binding bears no imprint on spine, and was probably
carried out by W. H. Smith and Son for a balance of edition
purchased by them. George Eliot's novel _Felix Holt_ was
treated in this way by Smiths some twelve years after
publication, and the binding is very similar to that now
under consideration.
_NOTE_
It is stated by Margaret Lavington in her appendix to Escott's book that
Trollope “printed but never published” several of his lectures. I have
been unable to trace any privately printed lectures, but feel sure that
Trollope's first bibliographer would not speak of them as she does
without certain knowledge of their existence. The titles mentioned are:
THE CIVIL SERVICE AS A PROFESSION,
THE WAR IN AMERICA,
ENGLISH PROSE FICTION AS A NATIONAL AMUSEMENT,
THE HIGHER EDUCATION OF WOMEN.
No dates or other details are given.
From the same source I borrow a statement that a study of Thackeray by
Trollope, originally printed in the “Cornhill,” was republished as part
of Theodore Taylor's book _Thackeray: The Humourist and Man of Letters_,
which was issued in 1864. It is noticeable that Margaret Lavington
speaks of the publisher of this book as Appleton of New York. A book of
the same title by the same author was issued in the same year by Hotten
of Piccadilly, and it is a fair presumption that the volumes are
identical, but, although I have been carefully through the volume issued
by Hotten, I cannot identify any section as contributed by Trollope.
FREDERICK MARRYAT
1792-1849
FREDERICK MARRYAT
The reputation of Captain Marryat has suffered at the hands of time
somewhat differently from that of many of his contemporaries.
Superficially he has fared better than they, for, if little read except
by boys, he is at least acknowledged as a classic, and there are few
adult novel readers who could not from their own childhood gather
sufficient memories to characterize in summary some of his best known
books.
Nevertheless, it is arguable that the forgotten author is happier than
he who is accepted but unread. A revival of interest in the books of a
man not already docketed and filed in the appreciation of his age may
develop a new perspective. The body of his work may be exhumed and
permanently lodged in its proper niche of the catacombs of literature.
More hardly shall this befall such a one as Marryat, who is “placed”
already as a writer of sea stories for boys and as an instructor in
adventure for young people.
Who shall deny that he is all of this? His fame as a novelist of naval
escapade, of risk and makeshift among pirates and barbarians, is fame
deserved. The difficulty for one concerned to reappraise his work lies
in the fact that there is more to him than is here implied. He is the
only writer in the tradition of Fielding and Smollett who can claim
consideration on the same plane as these famous authors. That he is
overtopped by _Tom Jones_ no one will dispute, but that he ranks with
and not after Smollett is a contention that permits of argument.
The first result of an attempt to classify the books of Captain Marryat
is a realization that two of his finest works are—the one wholly, the
other mainly—unconcerned with ships or seafarers. _Japhet in Search of a
Father_ (1836) is a picturesque tale of vagabondage and social escapade.
_The Pacha of Many Tales_ (1835) is an adaptation of “The Arabian
Nights,” a series of narratives held together by a framework of Oriental
despotism.
_Japhet_ is partnered by two later novels—_Joseph Rushbrook; or, The
Poacher_ (1841) and _Valerie_ (1849). All three are land as opposed to
sea novels, and the first two show the fertile invention of the author,
his power of describing rogues and fashionable grotesques. But whereas
_Japhet_ is the best book Marryat ever wrote, _The Poacher_ is a little
weary, for it dates from the last period of the writer's life, when
ill-health and money troubles were pressing hardly on a man already
exhausted by a reckless youth; while _Valerie_, the autobiography of a
French girl cast on her own resources in Paris and in London, had better
have been left, as Marryat left it, a fragment cut short by sickness and
by death.
_The Pacha of Many Tales_ stands quite alone and stands proudly.
Marryat's humour is in this book congenial to the modern reader, while
of fantastic happening few works of fiction can show so rich a store. It
is hard to understand why this admirable parody of the “Thousand and One
Nights” is to-day so little read. Perhaps some enterprising publisher
will extract the story of Huckaback and issue it, grotesquely
illustrated. It should find its market.
The sea stories proper need little comment. They are eleven in number:
THE NAVAL OFFICER; or, FRANK MILDMAY (1829),
THE KING'S OWN (1830),
NEWTON FORSTER; or, THE MERCHANT SERVICE (1832),
PETER SIMPLE (1834),
JACOB FAITHFUL (1834),
MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY (1836),
THE PIRATE. THE THREE CUTTERS (1836),
POOR JACK (1840),
PERCIVAL KEENE (1842),
THE PRIVATEER'S-MAN (1846).
The first of these titles is pure autobiography and, as the author
himself admitted, lacks most of the essentials of fiction. The story is
of the slightest and most perfunctory, the book being little more than
an account of Marryat's own early adventures at sea. David Hannay, in
his excellent little _Life of Marryat_, remarks acutely on the peculiar
meanness of the hero's character—a meanness that makes an even more
repellant appearance in the last but one of the sea stories—_Percival
Keene_. Seeing that Marryat was writing of himself and that the events
in the life of Frank Mildmay must have been easily recognizable by naval
contemporaries, it is remarkable that he should present his central
figure so unsympathetically, _unless he failed to realize the young
man's shortcomings_. Perhaps in part he saw his mistake, for in the five
novels that followed _The Naval Officer_ he offers the reader more
respectable but more colourless heroes. When the time came for writing
_Percival Keene_, either he had forgotten the warnings of twelve years
before or else he was tired of erecting dummy humanity to placate the
idealism of his readers.
The constructional weakness of _The Naval Officer_ Marryat took pains to
correct in his succeeding books. _Peter Simple_, _Jacob Faithful_ and
the rest may depend for their vitality and attraction on the excitements
encountered by their heroes while voyaging the seas or fighting in the
wars. Certainly the by-plots are unimportant and conventional. But the
author was careful in them all to give to the _course_ of the heroes'
adventures a real prominence and coherence, so that we read with an
anxiety to know what happens next and are not, as in _The Naval
Officer_, continually brought up by naval “shop” or invited to feel
indignant sympathy with the members of a noble but scurvily treated
service.
_The Pirate_ and _The Privateer's-Man_ are exciting tales of ocean
brigandage, the latter having in addition an antiquarian interest, for
the first portion of the story is based on the actual life-record of an
old time sea-rover. _Poor Jack_, although told in the first person and
comprising scenes on shipboard and adventurous happenings at sea of a
kind to suggest comparison with _Mr. Midshipman Easy_, has an historical
interest apart from its value as fiction, because it is an account of
Greenwich Hospital, in those days a retreat for wounded seamen.
Two groups remain among the stories of Frederick Marryat. _Snarleyow_
(1837) and _The Phantom Ship_ (1839) stand definitely apart from the
rest of the novels. Both tell of Dutch seafaring in the old days and
both introduce a strong element of the weird and the mysterious. That
Marryat should in these books have come under the influence of the
“terror” motive in fiction is surprising and interesting. After reading
_Japhet_ or _Mr. Midshipman Easy_ one would declare that nothing was
farther from the talent of their author than an excursion into the
“horrid.” And yet both _Snarleyow_ and _The Phantom Ship_ are excellent
books, which rank high among Marryat's novels for liveliness and for
characterization and, in addition, merit notice for their fearsomeness.
Of their value as historical documents I am unqualified to speak, but it
may be presumed that before writing them the author studied the lives
and methods of seventeenth and eighteenth century Dutch mariners, for
both books are circumstantially staged and show no desire to shirk
description of contemporary fact.
Of the stories written definitely for children the best known (and
rightly) is _Masterman Ready_ (1841-1842). It was followed by _The
Travels and Adventures of Monsieur Violet_ (1843); _The Settlers in
Canada_ (1844); _The Mission; or, Scenes in Africa_ (1845); _The
Children of the New Forest_ (1847); and _The Little Savage_ (1848-1849).
_Monsieur Violet_ is an improbable and tedious tale of Red Indians and
Mormons. The rest—with the exception of _The Children of the New
Forest_, which is a story of Cavaliers and Roundheads—tell in one form
or another the eternal tale of young adventurers in wild countries.
Marryat loved children and knew how to tell stories that they could like
and understand. This to-day is undisputed. But that he is equally a
novelist for the critical sorely needs reaffirmation. His juvenile
public has been more faithful to him than that of maturer years, and one
can only hope that time will restore him to the affection of the adult.
_Masterman Ready_ is as fresh to-day as when, eighty years ago, it first
appeared; but the freshness is due as much to Marryat as to his youthful
admirers, and that same freshness is no less present in the best of his
other books than it is in this children's classic. Let the modern novel
reader have no fear. In taking up _Japhet_, or _Peter Simple_, or _A
Pacha of Many Tales_, he will take up a fine book and good literature,
and not merely a poker with which to rake among the ashes of his own
vanished childhood.
_BIOGRAPHY_
Two books have appeared dealing with the life and work of Frederick
Marryat:
LIFE AND LETTERS OF CAPTAIN MARRYAT. By FLORENCE MARRYAT. 2 vols.
London: Bentley, 1872.
Like so many loyal and affectionate biographers, Mrs. Ross Church is
too casual a user of dates and too summary an adherent to chronology
to allow to her book great reference value.
LIFE OF FREDERICK MARRYAT. By DAVID HANNAY. London: Walter Scott.
1889.
This is an admirable little book so far as the main text is
concerned. Its bibliography, however, although valuable for the list
given of biographical and critical articles devoted to Marryat, as
well as for facts regarding subsequent editions of Marryat's works,
is very unreliable as an authority on first editions.
I.—EDITIONES PRINCIPES
FICTION, ESSAYS, NAVAL TECHNICAL BOOKS
1817
A CODE OF SIGNALS FOR THE USE OF VESSELS EMPLOYED IN THE MERCHANT
SERVICE. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N. Dedicated to the Committee of the
Association of Shipowners of the Port of London. London: J. M.
Richardson, 23 Cornhill. 1817. 1 vol. Royal 8vo (6⅛ × 9¾). No
pagination, the book consisting wholly of tabulated code.
Frontispiece, folding plate, and one full-page plate in colours.
Paper boards, paper label on side only, printed in black. White
end-papers.
NOTE—I have only been able to consult the sixth edition of
this book as issued revised in 1837 and a seventh edition,
further revised, as issued in 1840; but that it appeared
originally in the same form and over the same imprint is
proved by the retention in the later edition of the author's
original prefatory letter, dedicating his work to the
Association of Shipowners.
1822
SUGGESTION FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF IMPRESSMENT IN
THE NAVAL SERVICE. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N. (Quotation.) London:
Printed by W. Hughes, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. Published by J. M.
Richardson, Cornhill and sold by all booksellers. 1822. 1 vol. Demy
8vo (5½ × 8¾). Pp. (iv) + 64. The half-title serves as front wrapper
and bears the words “Price 2/6d.” No back wrapper, p. 64 being the
outside back page of the pamphlet.
1829
THE NAVAL OFFICER: Or SCENES AND ADVENTURES IN THE LIFE OF FRANK
MILDMAY. (Quotation from Don Juan.) London: Henry Colburn, New
Burlington Street. 1829. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 297 + (3). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp.
(299) (300).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 310 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp.
(311) (312).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 270 + (2).
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on March 14, 1829.
1830
THE KING'S OWN. By the author of _The Naval Officer_. (Quotation from
Shakespeare's _Pericles_.) London: Henry Colburn and Richard
Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1830. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 324. Note of erratum occupies verso of
half-title.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 325 + (1). Note of errata occupies verso of
half-title.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 327 + (5). Note of errata occupies verso of
half-title. Publishers' advertisements, paged (1), 2, 3, (4), occupy
pp. (329) to (332).
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on April 15, 1830.
1832
NEWTON FORSTER: Or THE MERCHANT SERVICE. By the author of _The King's
Own_. “Honesty is the best policy.” London: James Cochrane and Co.,
11 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall. 1832. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 270 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(271) (272).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 295 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 260. Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(253) to (260).
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1832, this book was actually published
in December, 1831.
1834
PETER SIMPLE. By the author of _Newton Forster_, _The King's Own_ etc.
London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1834. 3 vols. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4¾ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 328. No half-title.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 343 + (1). Half-title to this volume.
Vol. III. pp. viii + 380 + (4). Publishers' advertisements dated
November, 1833, occupy pp. (381) to (384). No half-title. Inserted
in Vol. III. should be a list of errata.
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTES—(i) Although dated 1834, this book was actually
published in December, 1833. The story ran serially in the
“Metropolitan Magazine” from June, 1832, to December, 1833.
Marryat edited this magazine from 1832 to 1836.
(ii) An edition of the book, illustrated by R. W. Buss, was
published by Saunders and Otley, in 1837, in three volumes.
Extra cr. 8vo. Dark green embossed cloth, gilt. Yellow
end-papers.
1834
JACOB FAITHFUL. By the author of _Peter Simple_, _The King's Own_ etc.
London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1834. 3 vols. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 304. Advertisement of _Peter Simple_ occupies p.
(ii). No half-title.
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 301 + (3). Publishers' advertisements
occupy pp. (303) (304). No half-title.
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 307 + (1). No half-title.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in November or December,
1834. The story ran serially in the “Metropolitan Magazine”
from September, 1833, to December, 1834.
(ii) An edition of the book, illustrated by R. W. Buss, was
published by Saunders and Otley in 1837 in three volumes.
Ex. cr. 8vo. Maroon embossed cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers.
(iii) It was the intention of the publishers to bring out an
illustrated edition of all Marryat's novels, one novel to
appear each month, beginning on April 1, 1837; but only
_Jacob Faithful_ and _Peter Simple_ were issued, and the
series was abandoned, doubtless because in that year Marryat
quarrelled with Saunders and Otley and found a different
publisher.
1835
THE PACHA OF MANY TALES. By the author of _Peter Simple_, _Jacob
Faithful_ etc. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1835. 3
vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 308 + (4). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(309) to (312). Advertisement of books by the same author occupies
p. (ii) facing title.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 300.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 312.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1835. The stories
appeared intermittently in the “Metropolitan Magazine”
between June, 1831, and May, 1835.
1836
THE PIRATE, AND THE THREE CUTTERS. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N.
Illustrated with twenty splendid engravings from drawings by
Clarkson Stanfield Esq., R.A. London: Published for the Proprietor
by Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman. 1836. Large Med.
8vo (5⅞ × 9⅛). Pp. (viii) + 315 + (1). The book contains twenty
full-page illustrations in steel engraving, of which two—an engraved
portrait frontispiece and picture title-page—precede printed title.
Cream paper boards, gilt, lettered on spine in gold THE PIRATE BY
CAPT^{N.} MARRYAT. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) Although dated 1836, this book was actually
published in December, 1835.
(ii) Copies are more frequently met with in maroon cloth,
blocked in gold and lettered on spine MARRYATS PIRATE AND
THE THREE CUTTERS. This cloth binding (of which two styles
at least are extant) is probably not so early in date as the
paper-board binding described above. Definite information is
impossible to obtain, but the evidence of similar
illustrated books of the period (_e.g._, Lytton's _Pilgrims
of the Rhine_) supports the theory here laid down.
(iii) A large paper edition, imperial 8vo (11 × 7½), was
issued simultaneously, with plates printed on India paper
and bound in green paper boards, half dark-green figured
cloth, cream paper label, the last being lettered in gold:
THE PIRATE BY CAPT^{N.} MARRYAT. White end-papers. Copies of
the large paper edition also exist in maroon cloth, blocked
in gold and blind and lettered on the spine: MARRYATS PIRATE
AND THE THREE CUTTERS. As with the ordinary edition, these
full cloth copies are of later issue than those in boards.
(iv) In all Longman's first editions the plates bear the
following legend: 'Published Dec^r. 1, 1835 for the
proprietor by Longman and Co., Paternoster Row.' The book
was, however, never issued with a _printed_ title of that
year. That the actual plates were published prior to the
Longman book edition is proved by the fact that I have
myself a set, both before and after “letters,” bearing the
legend: 'London. Published Oct^r. 1835 for the proprietor by
Charles Tilt, 86 Fleet Street.' In every other respect, even
down to the page references, the wording on these early
dated plates is identical with that used for Longman's book
edition.
(v) A curious feature of this book's publishing history is
its issue in parts, nine years after its appearance in book
form. In 1845 there appeared over the imprint A. Fullarton
and Co., 106 Newgate Street, London; 67 Abbey street,
Dublin; Steads Place, Leith Walk, and 5 Nicholson Street,
Edinburgh, fifteen shilling parts (6 × 9½), bound in buff
paper wrappers printed in red-brown, and illustrated with
steel engravings after Clarkson Stanfield. These engravings
are twenty in number and identical with those in the first
book edition, except that the Longmans imprint has been
substituted on the plates by that of Fullarton, and the
printer's name and the date of issue have been expunged. The
distribution of plates among the fifteen parts is as
follows: Parts I. IV. VI. VIII. X. contain two plates each;
Parts II. III. V. VII. IX. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. and XV.
contain one plate each. Publishers' advertisements occupy
outside back wrappers. No date appears on the parts, but a
title-page (with other preliminary matter) enclosed in Part
XV. is dated MDCCCXLV.
The text of the book was clearly reset for this part issue,
so there can be no question of a refurbishing of Longman
sheets. It may be noted that, according to the wrappers, the
plates were “engraved under the superintendence of Mr.
Charles Heath.” (This person was responsible for the
principal Books of Beauty, Keepsakes, and similar gift
publications issued in large numbers toward Christmas time
between 1840 and 1850 and distinguished by their beautiful
steel engravings.)
There being no indication that the plates were re-engraved
for the Fullarton edition, it may be presumed either that
Heath superintended their original production in 1835 but
had not at that time the “selling name” that by 1845 was
his, or that Fullarton, anxious to give to their reissue
something of novelty, paid Heath for a supervisory activity
of a nominal kind in order to have the use of his name on
their wrappers.
1836
JAPHET IN SEARCH OF A FATHER. By the author of _Peter Simple_, _Jacob
Faithful_, etc. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. 1836. 3
vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 304. Advertisement of other works by same author
occupies verso of half-title.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 299 + (1). No half-title.
Vol. III. pp. viii + 319 + (5). Publishers' advertisements occupy
pp. (321) to (324). No half-title.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published early in January, 1836. The
story ran serially in the “Metropolitan Magazine” from
October, 1834, to January, 1836.
1836
STORIES OF THE SEA. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N. author of _Peter Simple_,
_Japhet in Search of a Father_ etc. New York: Published by Harper
and Brothers, No. 82 Cliff Street. 1836. 1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4½ ×
7¼). Pp. (236) [paged as 232 + (2)]. No printed half-title, but 2
pp. blank precede title and form part of the book, although omitted
from page reckoning. Advertisement to the American edition, dated
January, 1836, occupies p. (3). Figured maroon cloth, paper label.
White end-papers.
NOTE—This book is the American edition of _The Pirate and
the Three Cutters_. It also contains Marryat's story
_Moonshine_, which originally appeared in _The Keepsake_ and
was not published in book form in England until its
inclusion in _Olla Podrida_ in 1840.
1836
MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY. By the author of _Japhet in Search of a Father_,
_Peter Simple_, _Jacob Faithful_ etc. Saunders and Otley, Conduit
Street. 1836. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 291 +(1). Advertisement of author's previous
works occupies verso of half-title.
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 306 + (2). Publishers' advertisement
occupies verso of half-title, and 2 pp. publishers' advertisements,
dated July, 1836, occupy pp. (307) (308).
Vol. III. pp. viii + 314 + (2). Publishers' advertisement occupies
verso of half-title and pp. (315) (316).
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in September, 1836. One
instalment was printed in the “Metropolitan Magazine” in
July, 1836, but serialization was never completed.
1836
THE DIARY OF A BLASÉ. By the author of _Jacob Faithful_, _Peter
Simple_ etc. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey and A. Hart. 1836. 1 vol. Ex.
Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. 197 + (1). Paper boards, paper label. White
end-papers.
NOTE—I cannot establish the month of publication of this
book, but twenty-eight chapters of a work entitled _The
Diary of a Blasé_ appeared serially in the “Metropolitan
Magazine” to July, 1836, at which point the narrative was
left incomplete. It made no separate appearance in book form
in England, being included under the title _Diary on the
Continent_ in _Olla Podrida_ (see below—1840).
1837
SNARLEYOW or THE DOG FIEND. By the author of _Peter Simple_, _Frank
Mildmay_ etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13 Great Marlborough
Street. 1837. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅞).
Vol I. pp. viii + 307 + (5). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp.
(309) to (312).
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 299 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. viii + 307 + (1).
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1837. The story ran
serially in the “Metropolitan Magazine” from February, 1836,
to July, 1837. Marryat changed his publisher with this
novel, because Saunders and Otley refused to pay an advance
on royalties.
1839
THE PHANTOM SHIP. By CAPT. MARRYAT, R.N. Author of _Peter Simple_,
_Jacob Faithful_, _Frank Mildmay_ etc. London: Henry Colburn,
Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1839. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ ×
7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 300.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 289 + (1). No half-title.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 266. No half-title.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1839. The story
appeared serially in the “New Monthly Magazine” during 1837.
1839
A DIARY IN AMERICA: WITH REMARKS ON ITS INSTITUTIONS. By CAPTAIN
MARRYAT, C.B. Author of _Peter Simple_, _Jacob Faithful_, _Frank
Mildmay_ etc. London: Printed for Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and
Longmans, Paternoster Row. 1839. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 321 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 319 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 311 + (1). Note of errata to Vol. I. occupies
p. (312) of Vol. III.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. Also full green grained
cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1839.
1839
A DIARY IN AMERICA ETC. PART SECOND. By CAPT. MARRYAT, C.B. Printed
for Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, Paternoster Row. 1839.
3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 304.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 293 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 362.
Vol. II. contains two folding maps, which precede p. 1. Paper boards
(half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in December, 1839.
1840
POOR JACK. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, C.B. With illustrations by Clarkson
Stanfield, R.A. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans,
Paternoster Row. 1840. 1 vol. Large Med. 8vo (5⅞ × ¼). Pp. x + 384.
Because the volume is composed of bound-up parts, the half-title is
p. 1 of the story itself and does not precede frontispiece. The book
contains forty-seven wood engravings after Clarkson Stanfield, of
which thirty-six printed separately and eleven in the text. Dark
green cloth, blocked in gold. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on December 1, 1840.
(ii) _Poor Jack_ first appeared in twelve monthly shilling
parts (5⅞ × 9), bound in buff paper wrappers, printed in
black. The first was published at the beginning of January,
and the last at the beginning of December, 1840. Each part
(subject to the variations stated below) contained three
full-page wood engravings after Clarkson Stanfield, printed
separately. Eleven small engravings appear throughout the
text.
Included in Part XII. were title-page and preliminary matter
(x pp.).
Parts I. to III. were undated; Part IV. was dated April 1;
and each succeeding part was dated similarly with the month
of its appearance.
Part I. should contain at front or back publishers'
catalogue, 8 pp., dated January 1, 1840, and entitled “Poor
Jack's Advertising Sheet.” Also at back an illustrated
advertisement of _Paul Periwinkle_.
Part II. should contain at front publishers' 4 pp. list,
dated February, 1840, and a prospectus (8 pp., enclosed in
buff wrappers) of McCulloch's Geographical, Statistical and
Historical Dictionary.
Parts III. to XI. contained (so far as I can discover) no
advertising matter apart from that printed on the wrappers
themselves.
Part XII. should contain 2 pp. publishers' advertisements
both at front and back, printed on the buff wrapper paper.
NOTES ON THE PLATES.
(i) No plates were issued with Part IX., but six instead of
three with Part X. A slip should be found inserted in Part
IX. calling attention to the arrangement. My own set shows a
similar happening in the case of Parts VII. and VIII., but
there is no sign of a slip having figured in the former to
explain the absence of illustration.
(ii) In two cases there are variations in underline between
part and book issue: (_a_) One of the plates included in
Part XI. is entitled “The Euphrosyne in the Downs,” but this
legend is omitted altogether in some copies of the book.
(_b_) Included in Part XII. is a plate entitled “The Prize
at Sheerness.” This underline reads in most copies of the
book “The Prize in The Medway.” Collectors anxious to
possess the actual first issue of the book—_i.e._, that
bound up from actual parts—should examine these two points
in copies they consider purchasing.
1840
OLLA PODRIDA. By the author of _Peter Simple_ etc. etc. London:
Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, Paternoster Row. 1840. 3
vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. vi + (ii) + 310.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 362 + (2).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 332.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers. Also
issued in ribbed maroon cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers.
There is no contents list to Volume I. The complete contents
are: Diary on the Continent—The Monk of Seville (a
play)—S.W. and by W. ¾ W.—Ill-Will (a charade)—The Sky-Blue
Domino—Modern Town Houses—The Way to be Happy—How to Write a
Fashionable Novel—How to Write a Book of Travels—How to
Write a Romance—The Legend of the Bell Rock—Moonshine.
NOTE—This book was published on December 1, 1840. Of the
contents the “Diary on the Continent” appeared serially in
the “Metropolitan Magazine” (see above, _Diary of a Blasé_,
1836), and the shorter pieces partly in the same journal,
partly in the “New Monthly,” and one (“Moonshine”) in _The
Keepsake_ (see above, _Stories of the Sea_, 1836).
1841/2
MASTERMAN READY OR THE WRECK OF THE PACIFIC. Written for Young People.
By CAPTAIN MARRYAT. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and
Longmans, Paternoster Row. 1841 (Vol. I.), 1842 (Vols. II. and
III.). 3 vols. in all. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 287 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., dated
February, 1841, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 269 + (3). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp. (maybe
two catalogues each of 16 pp.), dated April, 1842, bound in at end
or, in some cases, after first front end-paper.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 225 + (3). Publishers' catalogue, 30 pp., dated
October, 1842, bound in at end.
Each volume contains frontispiece (that to Vol. III. is a map) and
several text illustrations, wood engraved and printed on text paper.
Dark green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) Vol. I. was published in May, 1841; Vol. II. in
April, 1842; and Vol. III. in December, 1842.
(ii) Because the book was first planned to occupy one volume
only, there is no indication on Vol. I. of its being the
first of a series. Vols. II. and III., however, are so
described on title-page and on binding.
(iii) Vol. I. was catalogued on its publication as bound in
“boards.” This indicates that copies were first issued with
paper label and in half cloth, but I have never seen one so
bound.
1841
JOSEPH RUSHBROOK: Or THE POACHER. By the author of _Peter Simple_.
London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Co., Paternoster Row. 1841.
3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 275 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. viii + 293 + (3).
Vol. III. pp. viii + 269 + (7). Advertisements of works by the same
author occupy pp. (270) to (276).
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1841. The story
appeared serially in “The Era.”
1842
PERCIVAL KEENE. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, author of _Peter Simple_, _Jacob
Faithful_ etc. etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great
Marlborough Street. 1842. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 293 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 279 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 315 + (1).
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in August, 1842.
1843
NARRATIVE OF THE TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF MONSIEUR VIOLET IN
CALIFORNIA, SONORA AND WESTERN TEXAS. Written by CAPTAIN MARRYAT,
C.B. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, Paternoster Row.
1843. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 312.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 318 + (2).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 299 + (1).
Folding map faces title-page of Vol. I. Paper boards, half cloth,
paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1843.
1844
THE SETTLERS IN CANADA: Written for Young People. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT.
London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, Paternoster Row. 1844. 2
vols. Fcap. 8vo (4⅛ × 6¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 356. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., undated or
dated September, 1844, or earlier, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 374 + (2).
Each volume contains frontispiece in wood engraving printed on text
paper. Grey-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow
end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on September 7, 1844. It
is possible that the earliest issue contained an undated
catalogue, but this can only be established by comparison
between a larger number of copies of the book than I have
contrived to examine, and a careful investigation of the
books listed in any such undated catalogue.
(ii) I have seen an announcement of this book as in
“boards,” but have never met with copies so bound.
1845
THE MISSION: OR SCENES IN AFRICA. Written for Young People. By CAPTAIN
MARRYAT. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. Paternoster
Row. 1845. 2 vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 328. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp. and undated,
bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 374 + (2).
Each volume contains frontispiece in wood engraving, printed on text
paper. Vol. I. contains, following title and also on text paper, a
map. Brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1845.
1846
THE PRIVATEER'S-MAN: ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N.
London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, Paternoster Row. 1846. 2
vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 379 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, dated July,
1846, or earlier, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 361 + (1).
Grey-green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1846. The story
appeared serially in the “New Monthly Magazine,” which
periodical had just been purchased by W. Harrison Ainsworth.
[1847]
THE CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N. London: H.
Hurst, 27 King William Street, Charing Cross. 2 vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼
× 6¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) [enclosing inset title-page printed in red and
green] + 288 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) [enclosing inset title-page printed in red and
green] + 298 + (4).
Vol. I. contains eight and Vol. II. four steel-engraved
illustrations by Frank Marryat, printed separately.
NOTES—(i) This book was the first story in _The Juvenile
Library_. Vol. I. was published in July and Vol. II. in
October, 1847. In all the copies I have been able to examine
pp. (299) to (302) of Vol. II. are occupied by an
announcement of this library and by reviews of _The Children
of the New Forest_ itself. Whether the book, on its actual
first appearance, had these pages blank or otherwise
occupied I do not know, but it is certainly curious to find
press notices of a story in any but subsequent issues of
that story. It should be noted that the pages in question
are not inset, but form the last quarter of a 16 pp. sheet.
(ii) It is rumoured in some quarters that the book, as
originally issued, was dated on the title-page. I have never
seen a copy so dated.
1848/9
THE LITTLE SAVAGE. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N. In Two Parts. Part I.
First edition. London: H. Hurst, 27 King William Street, Charing
Cross. 1848. Part II. First edition. London: H. Hurst and Co., King
William Street, Charing Cross. 1849. 2 vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Part I. pp. (iv) [enclosing inset title-page printed in red and
green] + 298 + (4). Advertisements and reviews paged 1-4 of _The
Juvenile Library_ and _The Children of the New Forest_ occupy pp.
(299) to (302).
Part II. pp. (iv.) [enclosing inset title-page printed in red and
green] + 280 + (4). Advertisements and reviews of Part I. and of
_The Children of the New Forest_ paged 1-4 occupy pp. (281) to
(284).
Each volume contains four line engravings printed separately.
Grey-green cloth, blocked in gold. Uniform with _The Children of the
New Forest_.
NOTES—(i) Part I. was published in December, 1848, and Part
II. in February, 1849.
(ii) The second edition of Part II. differs from the first
in that there are preliminary pages (viii), of which p. (v)
bears a note by the author's son referring to Captain
Marryat's death. Frontispiece and title-page are, as
previously, inset on different paper, and the latter printed
in red and green.
(iii) Of Part II. only two chapters were written by Marryat.
1849
VALERIE: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. By CAPTAIN MARRYAT, R.N. Author of _Peter
Simple_, _Frank Mildmay_ etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher,
Great Marlborough Street. 1849. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 312. Publisher's advertisements, 2 pp., printed
on text paper bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 287 + (1). Advertisement of _Frank Mildmay_
occupies p. (288).
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. Also grey-green cloth, gilt,
blocked in blind. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1849. The story—to the
end of Vol. II., chap. iii.—appeared serially in the “New
Monthly Magazine” during 1846 and 1847. Owing to illness,
Marryat was unable to complete the book, which was finished
by another hand.
II.—A BOOK ATTRIBUTED TO MARRYAT, ONE EDITED BY HIM AND OTHERS POSSIBLY
WRITTEN WITH HIS HELP
1836
THE FLORAL TELEGRAPH: A New Mode of Communication by floral signals.
With Plates. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. MDCCCXXXVI.
1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Pp. xv + (i) + 307 + (11). Publishers'
advertisements occupy pp. (309) to (318)—others face title-page. The
book contains six hand-coloured plates, printed separately.
Olive-green cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in December, 1836. It was
reissued, probably in 1850, with a cancel title-page
reading: “The Floral Telegraph or Affection's Signals” by
the late Captain Marryatt [_sic_] R.N., author of _Peter
Simple_ etc. London: Saunders and Otley, Conduit Street. The
pagination reads: xv + (i) + 324. Pp. xv + (i) + 189 + (1)
are identical in the two editions, which are probably to
this point composed of the same sheets. The second half of
the book has, however, been reset, altered, and extended.
The illustrations are the same as in the earlier edition,
but they are much more coarsely reproduced and mechanically
coloured. Olive-green cloth, similar to the first edition,
but differently blocked in gold. Yellow end-papers.
(ii) It is a moot point whether or not Marryat was the
author of this rather foolish little book. That he had,
however, definite connection with it is suggested by the
fact that on its first publication the “Metropolitan
Magazine,” at that time closely identified with Marryat,
devoted to it a three-quarter-page highly laudatory review,
of which, after praising the introduction, the writer said:
“Though no name is found on the title-page, it is evident
that the work is from a practised and popular writer.”
Further, if Marryat were not the author, it is difficult to
understand the publishers' motive in reissuing it
immediately after his death with his name on the title-page.
If he deserves responsibility for the book, the manœuvre is
comprehensible enough, especially on the part of a firm with
whom he had severed relations in 1837, and thus deprived
them of the profitable exploitation of his established
reputation.
1836
RATTLIN THE REEFER. Edited by the author of _Peter Simple_. “All hands
reef top-sails—Away, Aloft!” London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington
Street, Successor to Henry Colburn. 1836. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ ×
7¾).
Vol. I. pp. xii + (ii) + 301 + (3). Note by Marryat stating his
connection with the work occupies p. (iv). Publisher's
advertisements occupy pp. (303) (304).
Vol. II. pp. viii + 300. No half-title to this volume.
Vol. III. pp. viii + 344. No half-title to this volume.
Each volume contains three full-page etched illustrations by A.
Hervieu, of which one is a frontispiece and the other two in the
course of the text. A list of illustrations for the three volumes
occupies p. (xiii) of Vol. I. The illustrations are dated 1836.
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book, which was written by Edward Howard (see p.
100), was published on July 23, 1836. A second edition
appeared on August 5 of the same year. A dramatic version by
J. T. Haines (who also dramatized _Jacob Faithful_) was
issued in February, 1893, as No. 2008 in French's Acting
Editions of British Plays.
Two-thirds of the story appeared serially in the
“Metropolitan Magazine” under the title, _The Life of a
Sub-Editor_. Reviewing the book in its three-volume form,
Marryat himself explained fully how and to what extent it
had been transformed from a record of autobiographical fact
to a frank experiment in fiction.
_NOTE_
The six items that follow are, like _Rattlin the Reefer_, the work of
Lieut. the Hon. Edward Granville George Howard, who worked as sub-editor
to Marryat on the “Metropolitan Magazine.” At one time the actual
authorship of Howard's books was ascribed to Marryat himself. This is
now proved to be a mistake. Indeed, apart from the note of
recommendation to _Rattlin the Reefer_ and Marryat's review of that book
in his magazine, there is no printed evidence that he had any share
whatever in the composition of any one of them. On the other hand, he
and Howard were very intimate; the stories of the latter are clearly
influenced by the work of his chief; and Marryat collectors have been in
the habit of regarding Howard's books as desirable adjuncts to a Marryat
collection. For which reasons, and because it is no less probable than
improbable that Marryat, in conversation if not by actual pencraft,
helped to give his sub-editor's books their final shape, I have thought
well to include them in this bibliography.
1837
THE OLD COMMODORE. By the author of _Rattlin the Reefer_. “Nestroque!”
London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1837. 3 vols. Ex.
Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 306.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 304.
Vol. III. pp. iv + 307 + (1).
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on September 16, 1837.
(ii) The above reckoning was made from a rebound copy from
which clearly flyleaves were missing.
1838
OUTWARD BOUND: OR A MERCHANT'S ADVENTURES. By the author of _Rattlin
the Reefer_, _The Old Commodore_ etc. London: Henry Colburn,
Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1838. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ ×
7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 299 + (1). No half-title.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 308 + (2). Half-title to this volume.
Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (309) (310).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 326. Half-title to this volume.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1838. The story
appeared in part as a serial in the “Metropolitan Magazine”
under the title _Ardent Troughton_.
1839
MEMOIRS OF ADMIRAL SIR SIDNEY SMITH, K.C.B. ETC. By the author of
_Rattlin the Reefer_ etc. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington
Street, Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. 1839. 2 vols. Demy 8vo
(5½ × 9).
Vol. I pp. vii + (i) + 400.
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 411 + (5). Publisher's advertisements
occupy pp. (413) to (416). No half-titles.
Steel-engraved portrait frontispiece to each volume, printed
separately. Pale blue ribbed cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow
end-papers.
1840
JACK ASHORE. By the Author of _Rattlin the Reefer_, _Outward Bound_
etc. etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough
Street. 1840. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. xvi + 310.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 300.
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 323 + (1).
Steel-engraved portrait frontispiece to Vol. I. printed separately.
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
1842
SIR HENRY MORGAN: THE BUCCANEER. By the author of _Rattlin the
Reefer_, _Outward Bound_, _Jack Ashore_ etc. London: Henry Colburn,
Publisher, Great Marlborough Street. 1842. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ ×
7¾).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 295 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. vi + 307 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 315 + (1).
There is a portrait frontispiece to Vol. I., lithographed and
printed separately. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White
end-papers.
1859
TALES FROM BENTLEY. Vol. I. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington
Street, 1 vol. Pott 8vo (4 × 6¼). Pp. (iv) + 96. Buff paper wrappers
printed in black. Also in boards. _The Marine Coast_, a story by the
author of _Rattlin the Reefer_, occupies pp. 55 to 88.
NOTE—This first series of _Tales from Bentley_ was published
in September, 1859.
_A NOTE ON MARRYAT AS ARTIST_
It is well known that Captain Marryat was a painter as well as a writer.
Collectors of his written work will perhaps also be interested to know
of a published book containing in reproduction some of his drawings. In
1825 or 1826 there appeared the following work:
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BURMESE WAR. Both Series. With twenty-four plates
after drawings by Captain Marryat, Thornton and Moore displaying the
Operations of the British Forces. London: Published by Thomas Clay.
(N.D.) The volume measures 20½ × 13¼, is bound in thick grey paper
wrappers lettered in black as above, and contains five engravings of
pictures painted by Stothard and D. Cox after drawings by Captain
Marryat. The name Kingsbury and Co., 6 Leadenhall Street, appears at
the foot of the engravings as their publisher, together with the
date 1825.
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
1804-1881
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
It is easier to blame historians and political critics of the life and
statesmanship of Disraeli for neglecting his novels, than it is oneself
to judge these novels as literature, apart from the huge mass of
incident, ambition, and achievement that went to make up the character
of their extraordinary author. To attempt in a few pages an estimate of
Disraeli as a man of letters were manifestly absurd, seeing that he was
rarely that and nothing else. It were doubly absurd, even if possible,
to treat in summary of the interactions of his political and literary
genius when one of the finest biographies of modern times (and that in
six volumes) has already covered every inch of the ground. The only
purpose, therefore, which these unauthoritative notes may serve is that
of indicating in a few words the development of Disraeli as a novelist
and the respective content of his principal books.
Although his novels fall into distinct and different groups, they are
all primarily satirical in character. From the moment of the anonymous
but sensational appearance of _Vivian Grey_ to that of the publication
of _Endymion_ which bore on each of its three volumes the name of the
most distinguished statesman of the world, Disraeli held up alike to the
follies and the ideals of his age the mirror of a keen and ruthless
mind.
But if he gazed on his contemporaries more often from the angle of
satire than from any other, he enclosed in their various frames the
period portraits that are his books. As a very young man—unknown,
ambitious, at once receptive and intensely sensitive—he used as material
for fiction not only the incidents of his own life, but, even more, the
thoughts and aspirations that filled his teeming brain. _Vivian Grey_
(1826-7), _Contarini Fleming_ (1833), and _Alroy_ (1833) are mainly
interesting as autobiography, and to the use of personal experience as
material for novel-writing he returned in extreme old age when, looking
back from the splendid eminence of his power, he described in the pages
of _Endymion_ the long road that he had travelled from obscurity to
fame.
_Vivian Grey_ appeared in five volumes, with an interval of a year
between the issue of the first two and that of the last three. But for
the brilliant publicity given to it by Colburn, the book would have
attracted little or no attention. It is a showy, careless pastiche of
the society of the day, a gallery of isolated portraits rather than a
single composition, attractive to the fashionable public of the time for
its thinly veiled presentment of well-known men and women. The reader is
further unpleasantly aware that the author's interest in his book did
not extend much beyond the first of the five volumes. Young men find it
easier to start a book than to finish one, and Disraeli was clearly no
exception to the rule.
_Contarini Fleming_ and _Alroy_, written after an extended tour in the
East, show, at its most luxuriant and ornate, the author's talent for
heady, rhetorical prose. Like most of his race, Disraeli was more
susceptible to magnificence and to decoration than to severe simplicity,
and throughout his books was prone to an excessive use of epithet and
metaphor. If these two early books show his love of ornament more
shamelessly than those written at a maturer age, they can claim
nevertheless to have received more careful and conscientious working, so
that their embellishments, if too lavish, are at least scrupulously
fashioned.
Between the publication of the last three volumes of _Vivian Grey_ and
that of the story of _Contarini Fleming_ Disraeli published two works of
fiction which, although in the matter of primary characteristic isolated
from the rest of his work and from each other, contain elements that
constantly reappear in the books of his later life.
_The Voyage of Captain Popanilla_ (1828) is a satire on English
political and social institutions cast in the form of an inverted
_Gulliver's Travels_ or _Erewhon_. Instead of an Englishman reaching an
imaginary and fantastic land, where he finds conditions that correspond
partly to the prejudices, partly to the ideals, of the author, the hero
of Disraeli's satire is a being from a mythical world, who comes over
the sea to an island that is, in all but name, England as Disraeli saw
it. As an example of pertinacious and aggressive parody _The Voyage of
Captain Popanilla_ is witty and readable enough, but it fatigues, as do
all pastiches of the kind, by its somewhat literal pursuit of
contemporary activity. Disraeli should have limited his prospect of
satire, for the individual beauties of any view are appreciated in
proportion to the smallness of their number. _Popanilla_ is overcrowded,
and the reader's mind tires with the effort to solve the riddle that is
contained in nearly every paragraph.
_The Young Duke_ (1831) was written to make money. One may go farther
and confess that the author, seeking frankly to profit by the
contemporary popularity of the novel of fashionable life, wrote a tale
of society into which he crammed all that he knew of character and
incident likely to appeal to the mood of the moment. With such
antecedents it is surprising that _The Young Duke_ is not a worse book
than it is. Inevitably it reads artificially, and the young writer had
not the skill entirely to conceal the wilfulness with which the work was
put together. On the other hand, the heroine deserves the attention of
Disraeli students, for she is the direct forerunner of Sybil, and that
part of _The Young Duke_ which depends on her personality is not without
a touch of the four great political novels upon which Disraeli's fame as
a writer must rest.
It was four years after the publication of _Alroy_ that Disraeli next
appeared as a novelist. He then published, within six months of one
another, two stories that stand markedly apart from the rest of his
work, in that they are wholly without political significance. Even amid
the extravagance of _Contarini Fleming_ and _The Young Duke_ occur
passages that depend for their significance on political movements or
political thought of the time. _Vivian Grey_, being a _roman à clef_ of
high society, and _Popanilla_ being a direct satire of institutions, are
naturally full of what was, even in those days, the author's ruling
interest. But _Henrietta Temple_ (1837) and _Venetia_ (1837) are
romances pure and simple. They may be said also to have no
autobiographical significance, save in so far as the first part of the
earlier book was written under the stimulus of a real love affair. It
must be admitted that _Henrietta Temple_, once it gets beyond the
boundary of Disraeli's own passionate experience, is a tame and careless
book. The interval that passed between the writing of the earlier and
that of the later portion seems to have extinguished his enthusiasm for
the work. Colburn was clamouring for a novel, and Disraeli, as always
hard pressed for money, raked out his incomplete manuscript, furbished
it up, finished it off, and delivered it to the publisher. _Venetia_ has
not this fault of interrupted fashioning. It is, however, in one
reader's opinion at any rate, a very tedious affair—rhetorical, unreal,
and sluggish in movement; but this view is contrary to that held by
many, who consider that the book's portraiture gives it value as
commentary on the life of Byron and other famous people.
There follows, this time after an interval of seven years, the first of
the four famous political novels that, whether or no they can be said to
have introduced a new genre into English fiction, are undoubtedly the
finest achievements of Disraeli's literary career. _Coningsby_ (1844),
_Sybil_ (1845), and _Tancred_ (1847) are too well known to need
description here. Because, however, their interdependence as parts of a
general scheme in the mind of the author tends to become obscured by
consideration of their respective quality, note may be taken of the fact
that _Coningsby_ is a novel of political views, _Sybil_ one of social
conditions and classes among the people, and _Tancred_ one of religion
as an influence in national life. Of the characters in _Coningsby_ many
reappear in _Tancred_, while Tadpole and Taper, whose names have become
part of English political slang, pull their wires and cadge their jobs
as assiduously in _Sybil_ as in the story that preceded it. It would be
interesting to work out a comparison between Disraeli and Trollope as
political novelists. Probably one would come to the decision that those
of Disraeli are the better political novels and those of Trollope the
better novels of politics. In other words, Disraeli is the cleverer
publicist, but Trollope the finer artist. _Coningsby_ and its fellows
depend very much on contemporary fact and personality for their full
understanding and significance. Surely it is not hyperæsthetic to demand
that literature be its own interpreter? In so far as a work of art
requires outside knowledge for its proper appreciation, to that extent
it falls short from what in art is highest and most perfect.
The appearance of _Lothair_ in 1870 caused something of a scandal in
serious political circles. The Briton is accustomed to take his
statesmen seriously, but his novelists with frivolity and in the leisure
hour. Wherefore he regarded it as unseemly that the name of an ex-Prime
Minister and of a man whose political career was by no means run should
figure on the title-pages of a three-volume novel. Curiosity conquered
disapproval and, as on an hundred other occasions, a book condemned for
its very existence was purchased and read in tens of thousands.
_Lothair_ is the work of a man who knew everybody and almost everything.
The personal satire, the constructive and destructive fervour of
_Coningsby_, _Sybil_, and _Tancred_ have given place to a greater
gravity and restraint, to an ironic vision more general and less
individual. Taking as his subject the power of the Catholic Church, the
rival power of revolutionary free thought and the indeterminate central
position of the Church of England, Disraeli built up his fourth and most
extensive picture of the England of his time. If we miss the idealist
conviction that gives to some of the passages in _Tancred_ the force of
a splendid sermon, we gain a certainty and a dignity of thought which
were inevitably lacking in the books of the earlier period. We also
continue to enjoy the epigram, the vivid minor portraiture, the
lightning grasp of fact and of every implication of fact, that give to
the political novels of Disraeli their unique flavour and importance.
_BIOGRAPHY_
THE LIFE OF BENJAMIN DISRAELI, EARL OF BEACONSFIELD. By WILLIAM
FLAVELLE MONYPENNY and GEORGE EARLE BUCKLE. 6 vols. London: John
Murray. 1912-1920.
I.—EDITIONES PRINCIPES
FICTION, POETRY, ESSAYS, LETTERS, ETC.
1825
AN ENQUIRY INTO THE PLANS, PROGRESS AND POLICY OF AMERICAN MINING
COMPANIES. London: John Murray. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½).
Pp. 135 + (1) of which p. (6) is paged vi. Paper boards, paper
label. White end-papers.
NOTE—These observations were made from a third enlarged
edition published in the first year of issue, and it is
likely that the first edition, although similar in format,
etc., contains fewer pages.
1825
LAWYERS AND LEGISLATORS: Or NOTES ON THE AMERICAN MINING COMPANIES.
(Quotation from Hooker.) London: John Murray. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy
8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. (viii) + 99 + (1). No half-title. Paper boards,
paper label. White end-papers.
1825
THE PRESENT STATE OF MEXICO: As detailed in a Report presented to the
General Congress by the Secretary of State for the Home Department
and Foreign Affairs at the Opening of the Session in 1825. With
Notes and a Memoir of Don Lucas Alaman. London: John Murray,
Albemarle Street. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. 130.
Advertisement of Disraeli's two earlier pamphlets occupies verso of
half-title, facing title-page. Pp. (6) to 55 are occupied by a
Memoir of Don Lucas Alaman, written by Disraeli. Alaman's report
begins on p. 57. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
1826/7
VIVIAN GREY. “Why then the world's mine oyster which I with sword will
open.” London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street. 1826 (Vols. I.
and II.), 1827 (Vols. III. IV. and V.). 5 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ ×
7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 266 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 236 + (4). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp.
(237) to (240).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 333 + (3). Publisher's advertisements occupy
pp. (335) and (336).
Vol. IV. pp. (iv) + 362.
Vol. V. pp. (iv) + 324.
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—Vols. I. and II. of this story were published on April
22, 1826; Vols. III. IV. and V. on February 23, 1827.
1828
THE VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN POPANILLA. By the author of _Vivian Grey_.
“Travellers ne'er did lie though fools at home condemned 'em.”
London: Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street. 1828. 1 vol. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4⅞ × 7¾). Pp. viii + 243 + (1). Paper boards, paper label.
White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on June 3, 1828.
1831
THE YOUNG DUKE: “A moral Tale, though gay.” By the author of _Vivian
Grey_. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington
Street. 1831. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (7⅞ × 4¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 300. No half-title.
Vol. II. pp. (vi) + 269 + (3). Text ends p. 269; note occupies p.
(271).
Vol. III. pp. (vi) + 265 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy
pp. (267) (268).
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—The only copy of this book I have been able to consult
in its original state contained at the end of Vol. I. a
publishers' catalogue, 8 pp., dated April, 1832. Clearly it
did not belong to the first issue, but what date should be
found on a catalogue of the earliest issue, where in the
three volumes such a catalogue should appear, or whether
there should be a catalogue at all, I do not know.
1832
ENGLAND AND FRANCE: Or A CURE FOR THE MINISTERIAL GALLOMANIA.
(Quotation from speech by Duke of Wellington.) London: John Murray,
Albemarle Street. 1832. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. viii +
(xii) + 268. Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in April, 1832.
(ii) The above observations were made from a rebound cut
copy, and details of measurement are therefore conjectural.
1832
CONTARINI FLEMING: A Psychological Autobiography. London: John Murray,
Albemarle Street. MDCCCXXXII. 4 vols. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 288.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 247 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 194 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy
pp. (195) (196).
Vol. IV. pp. (iv) + 230 + (2).
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in May, 1832.
(ii) The sheets of the Murray edition were issued in 1834 by
Edward Moxon, Dover Street, over the name: “D'Israeli The
Younger, author of _Vivian Grey_, _Alroy_ and _Ixion in
Heaven_,” with a new preliminary signature (8 pp.) to Vol.
I. containing a preface in explanation of the author's
action in putting his name to the book. Consequently from
the purist point of view the Moxon edition of 1834 should be
collected as containing fresh matter. It was bound in pale
maroon cloth, with paper label. Yellow end-papers.
1833
THE WONDROUS TALE OF ALROY: THE RISE OF ISKANDER. By the author of
_Vivian Grey_, _Contarini Fleming_ etc. London: Saunders and Otley,
Conduit Street. 1833. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. xxv + (iii) + 303 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 305 + (3). Publishers' advertisements, dated
February, 1833, occupy pp. (307) and (308).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 324 + (4). Advertisements of works by the same
author occupy pp. (325) and (326).
Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on March 5, 1833.
1833
WHAT IS HE? By the author of _Vivian Grey_. (Extract from a Letter.)
London: James Ridgway, Piccadilly and E. Lloyd, Harley Street,
MDCCCXXXIII. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5⅜ × 8½). Pp. 16. Half-title serves as
wrapper and bears the words “Price Sixpence.” P. 16 serves as back
wrapper. Advertisements occupy p. (2).
NOTE—The above notation was made from a copy of the “New
Edition, Revised” of the pamphlet. Since, however, this
first appeared in the same year and over the same imprint, I
have ventured to assume comparative uniformity of size and
appearance.
1834
THE REVOLUTIONARY EPICK: THE WORK OF DISRAELI THE YOUNGER. Author of
_The Psychological Romance_. London: Edward Moxon, Dover Street,
MDCCCXXXIV. [The title-page to Vol. II. reads in addition: “Books
II. and III. containing The Plea of Lyridon, the Genius of
Feudalism; and the First Part of the Conquest of Italy.”] 2 vols.
Large Post 4to (8¼ × 10½).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 89 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. xi + (i) + (91) to 206.
Advertisement of _Contarini Fleming_ (differently worded in each
case) faces title in both volumes. Paper boards. Paper label on
sides. White end-papers.
NOTE—Only fifty copies of this edition were printed. See
preface to the second and revised edition published in 1864,
details of which are given below.
1834
THE CRISIS EXAMINED. By DISRAELI THE YOUNGER. London: Saunders and
Otley, Conduit Street. 1834. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8½). Pp. (iv) +
31 + (1).
NOTES—(i) This pamphlet was issued in December, 1834.
(ii) The above observations were made from a rebound copy,
wherefore the style of binding is an assumption, and I
suspect that two or more flyleaves—maybe printed with
advertisements—should be added to the reckoning here set
down.
1835
VINDICATION OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION IN A LETTER TO A NOBLE AND
LEARNED LORD. By DISRAELI THE YOUNGER. London: Saunders and Otley,
Conduit Street. 1835. 1 vol. Tall Demy 8vo (5½ × 9). Pp. ix + (i) +
210 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (211) and (212). A
four-page leaflet of publishers' advertisements should be found
inserted between the front end-papers, and an erratum slip at p.
(v). Paper boards, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in January, 1835.
1836
THE LETTERS OF RUNNYMEDE. “Neither for shame nor fear this mask he
wore That, like a vizor in the battle-field But shrouds a manly and
a daring brow.” London: John Macrone, St. James's Square.
MDCCCXXXVI. 1 vol. Slim Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 8¼). Pp. (xxiv) [paged as
ii + (v) + vi-xx + (ii)] + 234 + (6). Publishers' advertisements, 2
pp., dated August 1, 1836, occupy pp. i and ii. The half-title is
inset on different paper between p. ii. and title-page. Paper
boards, paper label. White end-papers. Also in dark blue embossed
cloth, gilt, yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July or August, 1836.
1837
HENRIETTA TEMPLE: A Love Story. By the author of _Vivian Grey_. “Quoth
Sancho, Read it out by all means; for I mightily delight in hearing
of love stories.” London: Henry Colburn, 13 Great Marlborough
Street, MDCCCXXXVII. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 299 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 309 + (3). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp.
(311) and (312).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 331 + (1).
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1837, this book was actually published
in December, 1836.
1837
VENETIA. By the author of _Vivian Grey_ and _Henrietta Temple_. “Is
thy face like thy mother's my fair child?” “The child of love,
though born in bitterness and nurtured in convulsion.” London: Henry
Colburn, Publisher, 13 Great Marlborough Street. MDCCCXXXVII. 3
vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 346.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 377 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 324. Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (i)
and (ii).
No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1837.
1839
THE TRAGEDY OF COUNT ALARCOS. By the author of _Vivian Grey_. London:
Henry Colburn, Great Marlborough Street. 1839. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ ×
8½). Pp. vi + (ii) + 108. Errata slip facing p. 1. Paper boards,
paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1839.
1844
CONINGSBY: Or THE NEW GENERATION. By B. DISRAELI ESQ., M.P., author of
_Contarini Fleming_. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great
Marlborough Street. 1844. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 319 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 314.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 354. Advertisements occupy pp. (351) to (354).
No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1844.
1845
SYBIL: Or, THE TWO NATIONS. By B. DISRAELI, M.P., author of
_Coningsby_. (Quotation from Latimer.) London: Henry Colburn.
Publisher. Great Marlborough Street. 1845. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ ×
7¾).
Vol. I. p. viii + 315 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 324.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 326 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy
pp. (327) and (328).
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1845.
1847
TANCRED: Or THE NEW CRUSADE. By B. DISRAELI, M.P., author of
_Coningsby_, _Sybil_ etc. London: Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great
Marlborough Street, 1847. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (ii) + 338.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 340.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 298 + (12). Publisher's advertisements occupy
pp. (299) to (310).
No half-titles. Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1847.
1852
LORD GEORGE BENTINCK: A Political Biography. By B. DISRAELI, Member of
Parliament for the County of Buckingham. “He left us the legacy of
heroes; the memory of his great name and the inspiration of his
great example.” London: Colburn and Co., Publishers, Great
Marlborough Street. 1852. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¾ × 8¾). Pp. viii + 588.
Publishers' catalogue, 8 pp., and measuring 5 × 8, bound in after p.
588. This catalogue is followed by a further single sheet (2 pp.)
advertisement, measuring 5 × 8½. Dark olive-brown cloth, gilt,
blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1852, this book was actually published
in December, 1851.
1853
*IXION IN HEAVEN. THE INFERNAL MARRIAGE. THE VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN
POPANILLA. THE TRAGEDY OF COUNT ALARCOS. By BENJAMIN DISRAELI.
London: David Bryce, 48 Paternoster Row. 1853. 1 vol. Cloth.
This little book—a volume in a cheap reissue of the novels and
romances of Disraeli—is the first _book_ edition of _Ixion in
Heaven_ and _The Infernal Marriage_, which first appeared in the
“New Monthly” in 1829 and 1830, and had not been reprinted in the
interval.
1864
THE REVOLUTIONARY EPICK. By the Right Honorable BENJAMIN DISRAELI.
London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green. 1864. 1 vol.
Small Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7⅛). Pp. (xiv) [paged as (ii) + x + (ii)] + 176
+ (2). Preface (in dedication), dated Easter, 1864, occupies pp.
(vii) and (viii). Preface reprinted from the original edition
occupies pp. (ix) to (xii). Brown cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—The text of this edition differs extensively both in
wording and length from that of 1834. In his preface the
author states that the work was completed in 1837, but,
through press of political duties, he made no arrangement
for its issue before the present date. He also avers that
only fifty copies of the edition of 1834 were printed.
1870
LOTHAIR. By the Right Honorable B. DISRAELI. (Quotation from
Terentius.) London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1870. 3 vols. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 328. Publishers' advertisements, 32 pp., dated
January, 1870, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 321 + (3).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 333 + (7). Publishers' advertisements occupy
pp. (337) to (340).
Green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1870.
1880
ENDYMION. By the author of _Lothair_. “Quicquid agunt Homines.”
London: Longmans, Green and Co. 1880. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 331 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 337 + (3).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 346 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy
pp. (347) and (348).
Scarlet cloth lettered in silver. Grey and white decorated
end-papers.
NOTE—There are two styles of blocking for the binding of
this book; that most worked and bearing publishers' imprint
at foot of spine is the earlier.
II.—BOOKS PARTIALLY WRITTEN OR EDITED BY BENJAMIN DISRAELI
1825
THE LIFE OF PAUL JONES. From original documents in the possession of
John Henry Sherburne Esq., Register of the Navy of the United
States. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. MDCCCXXV. 1 vol. Ex.
Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. xii + 320. Paper boards, paper label. White
end-papers.
NOTES—(i) With reference to this book Monypenny says: “The
exact relationship of the English book to the American
original is not clear; but the former seems also to have
been written by an American, and the original MS., which has
been preserved, shows that Disraeli's share in it was
limited to the introduction here and there of a word or
phrase where the excision of a passage rendered such
amendment necessary.” In addition to the corrections thus
described Disraeli contributed an anonymous preface to the
book.
(ii) It is interesting to record here that in 1844 Captain
Marryat was asked to write a life of Paul Jones. He was
interested in the project, but it never materialized.
1826
THE STAR CHAMBER. A Weekly Magazine published by William Marsh, 145
Oxford Street. 9/8 numbers Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾) were published: No. 1,
April 19, pp. 1 to 20; Nos. 2 and 3 (double number), April 26, pp.
21 to 58; No. 4, May 3, pp. 59 to 74; No. 5, May 10, pp. 75 to 90;
No. 6, May 17, pp. 91 to 110; No. 7, May 24, pp. 111 to 126; No. 8,
May 31, pp. 127 to 142; No. 9, June 7, pp. 143 to 154.
After the completion of the 9/8 numbers, a four-page sheet of
preliminary matter was issued, of which p. (i) reads:
THE STAR CHAMBER. Vol. I. Part 1. April 19 to June 7, 1826. (Quotation
from Cavendish, “Wolsey.”) London: William Marsh, 145 Oxford Street.
Pp. (iii) and (iv) are occupied by contents list.
NOTES—(i) At one time the responsibility for the whole
contents as well as for the editorship of the “Star Chamber”
was fathered upon Disraeli. Monypenny, however, combats this
theory. He says: “The 'Star Chamber' was founded by a
certain Peter Hall, a friend of Meredith's at Brasenose,
who, through Meredith, had become acquainted with Disraeli.
Disraeli contributed some fables with a political
application under the title of _The Modern Aesop_, and
perhaps other matter. But in later life he expressly denied
('The Times,' November 3, 1871; the 'Leisure Hour,' November
4, 1871) having been editor, if indeed there ever was an
editor.” This represents, of course, the most recent and
authoritative opinion on the matter; but it is interesting,
on p. 150 of the catalogue of the Hope collection of
newspapers, etc., in the Bodleian Library at Oxford (1865),
to find reasons given for the suppression by Disraeli of all
copies of the “Star Chamber” upon which he could lay his
hands. The Peter Hall referred to above was the Reverend
Peter Hall, B.A., editor of “The Crypt.”
(ii) It is because the “Star Chamber” has come to be looked
upon as a Disraeli item that I have included it here,
despite the fact that in so doing I exceed the limit of
these bibliographies, which take no account of magazine
contributions of the authors concerned.
1849-1859
THE WORKS OF ISAAC DISRAELI. Edited with Introductions by BENJAMIN
DISRAELI.
Disraeli started work on a new edition of his father's books in 1847,
but the actual publication was, for various reasons, spread over a
period of ten years. The following are the dates and details in outline
of the first issues of the various titles:
1849. CURIOSITIES OF LITERATURE. London: Edward Moxon. 3 vols. Demy
8vo (5½ × 8¾). Dark green cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers. Vol. I.
contains “A View of the Life and Writings” of Isaac Disraeli written
by his son and extending to over thirty pages.
1851. COMMENTARIES ON THE LIFE AND REIGN OF CHARLES THE FIRST, KING OF
ENGLAND. London: Henry Colburn. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾). Dark
green cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers. Vol. I. contains a brief
preface by Benjamin Disraeli.
1859. THE LITERARY CHARACTER Or THE HISTORY OF MEN OF GENIUS; and
LITERARY MISCELLANIES and AN ENQUIRY INTO THE CHARACTER OF JAMES THE
FIRST. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo.
1859. THE CALAMITIES AND QUARRELS OF AUTHORS. 1 Vol. Cr. 8vo.
1859. AMENITIES OF LITERATURE. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo.
These last three items were all published in London by Routledge, Warnes
and Routledge, and bound in dark green cloth, with yellow end-papers.
They contain no prefaces by Benjamin Disraeli, who contented himself
with care for the text of his father's work.
_NOTE_
To a collected edition of his novels issued in 1870 Disraeli wrote an
important preface, characterising the work of his youth from the
viewpoint of a man in his sixties and indicating the considerable
revisions carried out in nearly all the books.
No attempt has been made to include in the foregoing bibliography the
reports of and selections from the speeches of Disraeli, which—not
surprisingly—were issued in large numbers during his later life. Also
are omitted two volumes of his early letters, published after his death.
WILKIE COLLINS
1824-1889
WILKIE COLLINS
Few novelists have enjoyed greater glory than did Wilkie Collins at the
height of his fame; to few did loss of popularity in later years come
more bitterly. For fame at one time undeniably was his. Not only had he
a large and enthusiastic public; not only were his works translated into
half a dozen languages within a month of their original publication; not
only was he pestered by the editors of two hemispheres for stories and
serials; but also he figured prominently in the professional literary
life of the time, was the intimate friend of Dickens, and a member of
the innermost ring of artistic and intellectual society. Probably to his
intimacy with the chief literary personalities of his time is due the
considerable survival of his reputation. Despite the fact that during
the last period of his life he suffered severe eclipse, and although,
beyond _The Moonstone_ and _The Woman in White_, none of his books are
regularly read to-day, he is a name more familiar to the world than
Trollope, a name more notably literary than Marryat. In the sixties, no
less than in the nineteen-twenties, to belong to the writing set was
two-thirds of reputation. There is no log-rolling so expert, no
admiration so mutual as that existing among members of the various
groups that practise the arts. Whence it has come about that the name of
Wilkie Collins—who as an artist may not be mentioned in the same chapter
as Trollope or Marryat, or even Mrs. Gaskell—is a household word, while
those of his greater fellows sound strangely, as the notes of some
old-fashioned melody.
I do not seek to imply that Collins' survival is in no way due to the
quality of his work. He won the admiration of his own age and may claim
that of posterity as a superb teller of stories and, in his latter days,
as a pathetic and courageous figure. But apart from his dexterity in the
contriving of plot, apart from a great (if intermittent) talent for the
portrayal of abnormal character, he is inferior as a painter of life to
many writers of his time whose very existence is nowadays forgotten.
And yet he would, perhaps, himself be content to have it so. That it was
the novelist's primary duty to tell a story was his own creed, and
faithfully he abode by it. He does not reveal to us human nature as does
Trollope; nor, like Disraeli, pique our interest with satiric brilliance
on topics of follies of the day; he has none of Marryat's gay
familiarity with the winds that blow and the sun that shines on the
crossroads of life's pilgrimage; he has no fund of rough but genial
humanity like Reade; he is not tender like Mrs. Gaskell, nor mystic
visionary like Herman Melville; even Whyte Melville, with his stilted
rhetoric and clumsy naïveté, has at times an attractive freshness that
Collins lacks. But if we rid our minds of all thought of him as seeking
to throw on the dark places of existence the light of interpretation,
looking to him rather for entertainment and for excitement, for deft
mystery and for extraordinary coincidence, he will not disappoint us.
Of his novels the largest category, and that including all the books
(save perhaps two) that bear re-reading nowadays, is that of the
dramatic and mystery stories.
The first to appear was _After Dark_, published in 1856. To the modern
reader, the unmistakable first appearance of the real Collins in these
excellent tales comes with a pleasurable shock after the mild
bohemianism of the preceding novel, _Hide and Seek_. _After Dark_
consists of six narratives of varying length and subject, ingeniously
woven together into the pattern of a single story. At their best they
are as good as anything the author ever wrote; even at their worst they
are free from the perfunctory carelessness that mars so much of his
later work.
_The Dead Secret_ (1857) and _The Queen of Hearts_ (1859) show the
novelist carrying farther his talent for dramatic construction and his
experiments in technique. Both books contain descriptive passages of
sombre power.
There follow successively the four best books of Collins' career. _The
Woman in White_ (1860), _No Name_ (1862), _Armadale_ (1866), and _The
Moonstone_ (1868) are story-telling as fine as the nineteenth century
can show. But they make evident that, even at his zenith, Collins was no
reader of other men's hearts. He could fashion ingenious puppets to his
will, entangling them in the meshes of his intricate and faultlessly
constructed plots; but neither Count Fosco nor Captain Wragge, neither
Miss Gwilt nor Sergeant Cuff, remains with the reader as a new friend or
as a new enemy. Each is remembered, rather, as a striking and skilfully
designed marionette, jerking through a Collins drama at the bidding of a
delicate mechanism of strings.
After _The Moonstone_ the decadence began, and, to a point, accountably
enough. In the first place, the author threw himself into the production
of propaganda fiction, with results (as may be seen) praiseworthy but a
little ridiculous. Secondly, he paid the usual price of success and
began to over-write. Whereas between 1850 and 1868 he published eleven
novels and books of tales, between 1870 and his death in 1889 he
published eighteen, in addition to a mass of short stories for
magazines, plays, and other incidental work. Thirdly—although not until
late in the seventies—his health began to fail. With reasons as good as
these for a falling off in Collins' work, it were ungracious to inquire
whether, had he eschewed reform, controlled his pen, and retained his
strength and eyesight, his fiction would have advanced from strength to
strength. Perhaps; perhaps not. Let us return from hypothetical dilemma
to melancholy fact. After _The Moonstone_ the decadence unmistakably
began.
When next he came before the public with a novel of plot, and left for a
moment the righting of public wrongs, his offering was mechanical
enough. _The Two Destinies_ (1876) is built on a series of coincidences
so incredible, that even Collins' candid claim to search the very
border-line of impossibility for material of which to make a story
cannot reconcile us to their unlikelihood.
_The Haunted Hotel_ (1879), _Jezebel's Daughter_ (1880), and _I Say No_
(1884) mark a slight improvement, and can be read with pleasure for the
unfailing ingenuity of their design. _The Evil Genius_ (1886) is in the
nature of a bad relapse, from which the dramatic tales never wholly
recover, although, of the three remaining, _Little Novels_ (1887) and
_The Legacy of Cain_ (1889) are not without flashes of the old skill and
invention. _Blind Love_, finished by Sir Walter Besant and published
posthumously, may perhaps claim immunity from criticism.
As a novelist of indignation Collins is pathetic rather than
blameworthy. He had the usual fanaticisms of the invalid
intellectual—hatred of athleticism, of sport, of legal injustice, of
religious intrigue, of social insincerity; and his propaganda novels
give expression to his passionate dislikes with a petulant but rather
impressive sincerity. Fortunately for the modern reader of books which
by their very nature are now out of date, Collins did not fail, even in
his tilting at windmills, to regulate his movements with practised
skill. Wherefore all but one of the propaganda novels have
well-contrived plots and continuity of interest, which those will enjoy
who can disentangle the fictional from the instructional in the stories'
purpose. These “indignation novels” are six in number:
MAN AND WIFE (1870),
THE NEW MAGDALEN (1873),
THE LAW AND THE LADY (1875),
THE FALLEN LEAVES (1879),
THE BLACK ROBE (1871), and
HEART AND SCIENCE (1883).
That in other books are present elements of reforming zeal I am
aware—for example, the abuse of private asylums figures in _The Woman in
White_ and, as mentioned below, there is a propaganda aspect to _Basil_;
but the six above named have their origin wholly in the author's
loathing of some injustice or some social evil.
_Man and Wife_ illustrates the cruel working of the marriage laws of the
United Kingdom and, incidentally, voices the author's conviction that
athleticism was at the time rapidly brutalizing the youth of England.
_The Law and the Lady_ ventilates another grievance against legal
injustice in matters sexual. _The New Magdalen_ and _The Fallen Leaves_
are protests against the outlawry of the prostitute and of the girl who
gives herself, unhallowed by the religious rite, to love. It is strange
that, of two books on the same subject, one (_The New Magdalen_) should
be the best novel of its class and not far below the highest level ever
attained by the author, while the other (_The Fallen Leaves_) should
hold the last place among everything that Collins wrote. _The New
Magdalen_ is a moving and dignified treatment of a very difficult theme;
_The Fallen Leaves_, from its aggressive preface to its sugary, unreal
end, is tragic proof that high motive and technical efficiency may yet
come together and produce only imbecile hysteria.
_The Black Robe_ is anti-Jesuit; _Heart and Science_ anti-vivisection.
Both are readable, and the latter something more. It may be noted that
Collins himself called _Heart and Science_ his best novel since _Man and
Wife_. Probably opinion to-day would set it above that humourless and
over-appendixed story, but it must rank below _The New Magdalen_ and,
possibly, also below _The Haunted Hotel_.
The novels that remain may hardly be classified. _Antonina_, the story
of Ancient Rome, with which in 1850, and following a fashion of the day,
he began his novelist's career, is essentially a first book—painstaking,
over-elaborate, and dull.
It was succeeded by _Mr. Wray's Cash Box_ (1852), a brief and
sentimental tale, mainly interesting for the evidence it provides of
Dickens's influence over the young Collins at the very beginning of
their long friendship. Those who enjoy hearty Christmas jollity, lovable
if ludicrous old age, uncouth fidelity, incompetent villainy, and sweet
simple maidenhood will find _Mr. Wray's Cash Box_ pleasant enough.
_Basil_ (1852) and _Hide and Seek_ (1854) are novels of contemporary
life, a little sombre, emotionally a little exaggerated. There is a hint
of crusading fervour in _Basil_ (against drunken nurses and hospital
routine), but the motif is not strong enough to class the book as a
propaganda novel. The young author (as many both before and since have
done) found stimulus for these books in the pathetic figure of the
debauched girl; but she receives at his hands treatment little different
from that usually given her by serious neophytes, eager to paint her
tragic isolation for the improvement of the novel-reading public.
There is in _Hide and Seek_ an element of interest apart from that of
the story itself. Much of the action takes place in a painter's studio,
and Collins has full scope for showing his fondness for art, an
enthusiasm suitable enough in the son and biographer of a distinguished
painter, but somewhat uncommon among novelists of his age. Throughout
his work he makes play with knowledge of contemporary painting,
displaying decided and on the whole admirable taste, often well in
advance of his time.
_Poor Miss Finch_ (1872) is more a story of contemporary social life
than either a novel of mystery or one of propaganda. It may therefore
appear here as pendant to the two early books just described. The
central figure is a blind girl. In _Hide and Seek_ the author took
credit to himself for introducing a deaf mute, but as the affliction
plays no part in the story one must refrain from joining in the
applause. The blindness of Miss Finch, on the other hand, is the pivot
of her tale, and a very elaborate, improbable, and overcrowded tale it
is. The fact is regrettable. Neatly contrived, related in a series of
narratives from different sources and from different points of view,
based largely on the antagonism of two brothers, and pervaded by the
wise spirit of an elderly governess-companion, this novel is so nearly
an epitome of the methods and tricks of Wilkie Collins, that one could
wish it more thoroughly a success.
And here, save for scattered volumes of short stories and one or two
brief and unimportant novels, ends the tale of Collins's books. He is a
writer for tired minds, capable—thanks to his perfect control of the
mechanism of incident—of holding the interest without calling on the
emotional reserves of his reader. His influence on the novel of
sensation has been enormous. It is the least of his due that a
generation brought up on the mystery stories of his disciples should
find time to turn over the principal works of the master himself.
_BIOGRAPHY_
The only biography of Wilkie Collins which has yet been published is an
insignificant German book issued in 1885.
EDITIONES PRINCIPES
A.—FICTION, ESSAYS, BIOGRAPHY, ETC., AND ONE BOOK WRITTEN IN
COLLABORATION
1848
MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A.: WITH SELECTIONS FROM HIS
JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE. By his son, W. WILKIE COLLINS. London:
Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. MDCCCXLVIII. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo
(4¾ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. xii + 348. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated April
29, 1848, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. vi + 354.
No half-titles. Brown-purple (or grey-blue) cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind. Yellow end-papers. Vol. I. contains engraved portrait after
Linnell and engraved title-page after Collins, immediately preceding
printed title. Vol. II. contains engraved title-page after Collins,
immediately preceding printed title.
NOTE—This book was published in November, 1848.
1850
ANTONINA: Or THE FALL OF ROME. A Romance of the Fifth Century. By W.
WILKIE COLLINS, author of _The Life of William Collins, R.A._
(Quotation from Scuderi.) London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington
Street. MDCCCL. 3 vols. Tall Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 8).
Vol. I. pp. xiv + (ii) + 295 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 338 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy
pp. (323) and (324).
Vol. III. pp. (viii) + 338 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy
pp. (339) and (340).
Cream embossed cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers, printed with
publisher's advertisements.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on February 27, 1850.
(ii) Copies in paper boards, half cloth and with paper
label, were probably also issued.
1851
RAMBLES BEYOND RAILWAYS: Or NOTES IN CORNWALL TAKEN A-FOOT. By W.
WILKIE COLLINS, author of _The Life of William Collins, R.A._,
_Antonina_ etc. With Illustrations by Henry C. Brandling. (Quotation
from _A Winter's Tale_.) London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington
Street, Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. 1851. 1 vol. Sq. Demy
8vo (5½ × 8¼) pp. (viii) + 304. No half-title. Twelve full-page
illustrations in tinted lithograph, printed separately. Cream-brown
cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers, printed with
publisher's advertisements.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on January 30, 1851.
(ii) The second edition (January 9, 1852) contained a
frontispiece differently tinted.
1852
MR. WRAY'S CASH BOX: Or THE MASK AND THE MYSTERY: A Christmas Sketch.
By W. WILKIE COLLINS, author of _Antonina_ etc. London: Richard
Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1852. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾).
Pp. viii + 171 + (5). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (173) to
(176). Grey-blue cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers. Etched frontispiece
by J. E. Millais, dated 1852, and printed separately.
NOTE—This book was published in January, 1852.
1852
BASIL: A Story of Modern Life. By W. WILKIE COLLINS, author of
_Antonina_, _Rambles Beyond Railways_ etc. London: Richard Bentley,
New Burlington Street. 1852. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. 300 pp. (6) to (21) are paged in roman numerals.
Half-title to this volume.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 303 + (1). No half-title.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 301 + (1). No half-title.
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label, white end-papers. Also in
bright blue embossed cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Brick-red
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on November 16, 1852. An
one-volume edition (1862, magenta cloth, blocked in gold and
blind) contains a dedicatory letter not elsewhere published.
1854
HIDE AND SEEK. By W. WILKIE COLLINS, author of _Antonina_, _Basil_
etc. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1854. 3 vols.
Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 297 + (3). Publisher's advertisements, dated
June, 1854, occupy pp. (299) and (300).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 322 + (2). Publisher's advertisements, dated
June, 1854, occupy pp. (323) and (324).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 332.
Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers. Also in
pale maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in blind, pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on June 6, 1854.
1856
AFTER DARK. By WILKIE COLLINS, author of _Basil_, _Hide and Seek_ etc.
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. 1856. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo
(4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 315 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., dated
January, 1856, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 322 + (2). Publishers' advertisement occupies p.
(323).
Boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers. Also in dark
grey-green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind, yellow end-papers.
_Contents_: Vol. I., A Terribly Strange Bed—A Stolen
Letter—Sister Rose. Vol. II., The Lady of Glenwith
Grange—Gabriel's Marriage—The Yellow Mask.
NOTE—This book was published in February, 1856.
1857
THE DEAD SECRET. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Bradbury and Evans, 11
Bouverie Street. 1857. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 303 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 331 + (1). No half-title.
Grey-purple cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in June, 1857.
(ii) Copies in brown cloth, with yellow end-papers, printed
with Chapman and Hall advertisements, are of later issue.
1859
A PLOT IN PRIVATE LIFE AND OTHER TALES. By WILKIE COLLINS, author of
_After Dark_, _Hide and Seek_ etc. Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz.
1859.
1 vol. (4½ × 6¼). Pp. (viii) + 294 + (2). Paper wrappers of usual
Tauchnitz style.
_Contents_: A Plot in Private Life—Mad Monkton—The Black
Cottage—The Family Secret—The Biter Bit.
1859
THE QUEEN OF HEARTS. By WILKIE COLLINS, author of _The Dead Secret_,
_After Dark_, etc. etc. London: Hurst and Blackett, Publishers,
Successors to Henry Colburn, 13 Great Marlborough Street. 1859. 3
vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. iii + (i) + 314. Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., undated,
bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 359 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 307 + (1).
No half-titles. Dark grey-green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1859.
1860
THE WOMAN IN WHITE. By WILKIE COLLINS. Author of _The Dead Secret_,
_After Dark_ etc. etc. London: Sampson Low, Son and Co., 47 Ludgate
Hill. 1860. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 316.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 360.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 368.
No half-titles. Preface to Vol. I., dated August 3, 1860. Violet
embossed cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in September, 1860. The
first one-volume edition (1861, magenta cloth blocked in
gold and blind) contains a special preface.
(ii) I am uncertain whether or not the earliest copies of
this novel contained in any one of the three volumes a
publishers' catalogue. The first editions I have seen show a
16 pp. catalogue at the end of Vol. III., but dated
November, 1860, so that they belong clearly to a subsequent
issue. _The Woman in White_ is a case over which the buyer
should take great care. A so-called “New Edition” was issued
in the year of publication and _with binding identical_ to
that of the first edition, for which reason only the right
advertisement matter can show that a copy is untampered
with. I should welcome information tending to establish
whether a catalogue (and if so where and of what date)
should properly figure in a “right” copy of the novel.
1862
NO NAME. By WILKIE COLLINS, author of _The Woman in White_, _The Dead
Secret_, etc. etc. etc. London: Sampson Low, Son and Co., 47 Ludgate
Hill. 1862. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. ix + (1) + 339 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 363 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 408.
Scarlet embossed cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Pale yellow
end-papers.
NOTE—Although this book is dated 1862, it was not actually
published until January, 1863.
1863
MY MISCELLANIES. By WILKIE COLLINS, author of _The Woman in White_,
_No Name_, _The Dead Secret_ etc. etc. etc. London: Sampson Low, Son
and Co., Ludgate Hill. 1863. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. vi + (ii) + 291 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp.,
printed on text paper, and dated November, 1863, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 300. Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., printed on
text paper and dated November, 1863, bound in at end.
Green embossed cloth, gilt. Green-ochre end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in November, 1863.
(ii) Copies in brown cloth gilt are of later issue.
1866
ARMADALE. By WILKIE COLLINS. With Twenty Illustrations by George H.
Thomas. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. 1866. 2 vols.
Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 304.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 372.
No half-titles. Vol. I. contains nine illustrations, Vol. II.
eleven. Red-brown cloth, blocked in gold. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1866. The story
appeared serially in the “Cornhill.”
1868
THE MOONSTONE: A Romance. By WILKIE COLLINS, author of _The Woman in
White_, _No Name_, _Armadale_, etc. etc. London: Tinsley Brothers,
18 Catherine Street, Strand. 1868. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 315 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 297 + (1). Publishers' advertisements (2 pp.)
inserted before half-title.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 309 + (1). Publishers' advertisements (2 pp.)
inserted before half-title.
Violet cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Cream end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1868.
1870
MAN AND WIFE: A Novel. By WILKIE COLLINS. (Quotation from Bunyan.)
London: F. S. Ellis, 33 King Street, Covent Garden. 1870. 3 vols.
Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. xiv + 356. Publisher's advertisements, 8 pp., bound in
at end.
Vol. II. pp. vi + 359 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. vi + 348.
Maroon cloth, gilt. Black end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1870.
1872
POOR MISS FINCH: A Novel. By WILKIE COLLINS, author of _The Woman in
White_, _No Name_, _Man and Wife_, etc. London: Richard Bentley and
Son. 1872. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. ix + (iii) + 314 + (2). Publishers' advertisements
occupy p. (315).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 316.
Vol. III. pp. iv + 320.
No half-titles. Purple-brown cloth, blocked in black. Cream
end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on January 26, 1872. The
story appeared serially in “Cassell's Magazine.”
(ii) Copies in bright blue embossed cloth, gilt, without
imprint on spine, are of a later issue.
1873
THE NEW MAGDALEN: A Novel. By WILKIE COLLINS. “Lead us not into
temptation.” London: Richard Bentley and Son. 1873. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo
(5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 297 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 298 + (2). Publishers' advertisement occupies p.
(299).
No half-titles. Red-brown cloth, blocked in gold and black. Cream
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on May 17, 1873. The story
appeared serially in the “Temple Bar Magazine.”
1873
MISS OR MRS.? And Other Stories in Outline. By WILKIE COLLINS. London:
Richard Bentley and Son, New Burlington Street, 1873. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo
(4⅝ × 7⅛). Pp. viii + 325 + (3). Publishers' advertisement occupies
p. (327).
No half-title. Brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Pale yellow
end-papers.
_Contents_: Miss or Mrs.?—Blow up the Brig!—The Fatal
Cradle.
NOTE—This book was published on January 17, 1873. The
stories first appeared in “The Graphic” and in “All the Year
Round.”
1874
THE FROZEN DEEP: And Other Stories. (READINGS AND WRITINGS IN
AMERICA.) By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Richard Bentley and Son, New
Burlington Street. 1874. 2 vols. Small Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 248.
Vol. II. pp. vi + 282 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(283) and (284).
Blue cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Pale yellow end-papers.
_Contents_: Vol. I., The Frozen Deep—The Dream Woman. Vol.
II., John Jago's Ghost; or The Dead Alive.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on November 2, 1874. The
title story appeared serially in the “Temple Bar Magazine”;
the remainder were first published in “Household Words” and
in the “Home Journal.”
(ii) Copies in brown cloth, with yellow end-papers, printed
with Chapman and Hall advertisements, are of later issue.
1875
THE LAW AND THE LADY: A Novel. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Chatto and
Windus, Piccadilly. 1875. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. vi + (ii) + 246 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 40 pp.,
dated December, 1874, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 269 + (3). Advertisement of author's previous
works occupies p. (271).
Vol. III. pp. iv + 341 + (3). Advertisement of author's previous
works occupies p. (343).
No half-titles. Dark green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in February, 1875.
1876
THE TWO DESTINIES: A Romance. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Chatto and
Windus, Piccadilly. 1876. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 311 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 301 + (3). No half-title. Publishers' catalogue,
32 pp., dated April, 1876, bound in at end.
Bright green cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Cream end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in September, 1876.
(ii) I have seen a copy bound in _brown_ cloth, blocked and
lettered identically to those in bright green, and
containing a publishers' catalogue dated _September_, 1876.
Whether the brown binding is necessarily later than the
green, or whether one variety is a trial binding and the
other that finally adopted, I do not know.
1878
A SHOCKING STORY. By WILKIE COLLINS. Author of _Man and Wife_, _Woman
in White_ etc. New York: A. J. Barnes and Company, 111 and 113
William Street. 1 vol. (4½ × 6½). Pp. (ii) plus 57 + (3). This
pamphlet is not wrappered, but pp. (i) and (60) form outside covers.
Both are plain without printing of any sort.
NOTES—(i) The date 1878 appears under the note of copyright
on verso of title.
(ii) This story was issued in the November number of the
“International Review,” an American periodical published by
Barnes and Co., who brought out the pamphlet described
above. In Great Britain the tale appeared in the “Belgravia
Annual” (December, 1878), published by Chatto and Windus,
but was not reissued in other than periodical form.
1879
THE HAUNTED HOTEL: A Mystery of Modern Venice, to which is added MY
LADY'S MONEY. By WILKIE COLLINS. With six illustrations by Arthur
Hopkins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1879. 2 vols. Demy
8vo (5½ × 8¼).
Vol. I. pp. viii + (ii) + 230 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 40 pp.,
dated October, 1878, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 259 + (1).
Vol. I. contains five illustrations and Vol. II. one illustration,
line engraved and printed separately. Dark brown cloth, gilt,
blocked in white. Blue-black end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book, although dated 1879, was actually
published in November, 1878.
(ii) _My Lady's Money_ was issued by Tauchnitz in 1879,
together with _The Ghost's Touch_, a story I cannot trace to
have appeared in book form in Great Britain.
1879
A ROGUE'S LIFE: FROM HIS BIRTH TO HIS MARRIAGE. By WILKIE COLLINS.
London: Richard Bentley and Son, Publishers in Ordinary to Her
Majesty the Queen. 1879. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 6⅞). Pp. iv + 188. No
half-title. Red cloth gilt, blocked in black. Black end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on April 7, 1879. It is the
first edition in book form of a tale issued periodically in
the early fifties in “Household Words.” The text was
slightly revised by the author before publication.
1879
THE FALLEN LEAVES. By WILKIE COLLINS. First Series. London: Chatto and
Windus, Piccadilly. 1879. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 275 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 269 + (3). Publishers' advertisements, 40 pp.,
dated May, 1879, bound in at end.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 295 + (1).
Olive-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Black and grey-blue
decorated end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1879.
1880
JEZEBEL'S DAUGHTER. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Chatto and Windus,
Piccadilly. 1880. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 282 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
February, 1880, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 281 + (3).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 296.
Pale buff cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Dark green and white
decorated end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1880.
1880
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE COPYRIGHT QUESTION ADDRESSED TO AN AMERICAN
FRIEND. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Trübner and Co., Ludgate Hill.
1880. 1 vol. Cr. 4to (6¾ × 9¼). Pp. 12 + (4). This pamphlet is not
wrappered, pp. (1) and (16) forming outside covers. P. (1) is
lettered as above, and serves both as front wrapper and title-page.
1881
THE BLACK ROBE. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Chatto and Windus,
Piccadilly. 1881. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 320.
Vol. II. pp. vi + 296.
Vol. III. pp. vi + 266 + (6). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(267) to (272). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated March, 1881,
bound in at end.
Black cloth, gilt, blocked in white. Blue and white decorated
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1881.
1883
HEART AND SCIENCE: A Story of the Present Time. By WILKIE COLLINS.
London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1883. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ ×
7¼).
Vol. I. pp. xvi + 294 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 293 + (3).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 302 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
March, 1883, bound in at end.
Grey-blue cloth, gilt, blocked in chocolate. Pale green and white
decorated end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1883.
1884
I SAY NO. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly.
1884. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 295 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
March, 1884, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 296.
Vol. III. pp. (viii) + 324.
Slate-blue cloth, gilt, blocked in magenta. Pale green and white
decorated end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1884.
1886
THE EVIL GENIUS: A Domestic Story. By WILKIE COLLINS. London. Chatto
and Windus, Piccadilly. 1886. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 284.
Vol. II. pp. vi + 304.
Vol. III. pp. vi + 265 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
May, 1886, bound in at end.
Dark grey-green cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Grey and white
decorated end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in September, 1886.
1886
THE GUILTY RIVER. By WILKIE COLLINS, author of _The Woman in White_,
_Armadale_, _The Evil Genius_ etc. Arrowsmith's Christmas Annual,
1886. Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, 11 Quay Street. London: Simpkin,
Marshall and Co., 4 Stationers' Hall Court. Price 1s. 1 vol. Fcap.
8vo (4½ × 6½). Pp. (viii) + 188 + (12). No half-title.
Advertisements occupy pp. (i) to (vi), p. (vii) is title-page, p.
(viii) is occupied by advertisements, as also pp. (189) to (200).
Buff paper wrappers, printed in dark blue, black and yellow.
Advertisements occupy back outside wrapper and spine, which is not
printed with title of story.
NOTE—The wording given above is that of wrapper, not of
title-page, because there exist several varieties of the
book (all of later date), which can most easily be
identified by the discrepancies between their wrappers and
that of the first issue.
1887
LITTLE NOVELS. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Chatto and Windus,
Piccadilly. 1887. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅛).
Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 319 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (vi) + 331 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (viii) + 303 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp.,
dated April, 1887, bound in at end.
Bright blue cloth, gilt, blocked in red. Grey and white decorated
end-papers.
_Contents_: Vol. I., Mrs. Zant and the Ghost—Miss Morris and
the Stranger—Mr. Cosway and the Landlady—Mr. Medhurst and
the Princess—Mr. Lismore and the Widow.
Vol. II., Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman—Miss Minor and
the Groom—Mr. Lepel and the Housekeeper—Mr. Captain and the
Nymph—Mr. Marmaduke and the Minister.
Vol. III., Mr. Percy and the Prophet—Miss Bertha and the
Yankee—Miss Dulane and My Lord—Mr. Policeman and the Cook.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1887.
1889
THE LEGACY OF CAIN. By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Chatto and Windus,
Piccadilly. 1889. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 289 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. vi + 263 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. vi + 281 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
October, 1888, bound in at end.
Blue cloth, gilt, blocked in red and black. Pale grey and white
decorated end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1889, this book was actually published
in November, 1888.
1890
BLIND LOVE. By WILKIE COLLINS. With a Preface by Walter Besant, and
Illustrations by A. Forestier. London: Chatto and Windus.
Piccadilly. 1890. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅛).
Vol. I. pp. x + (ii) + 302 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. vi + (ii) + 303 + (i). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp.,
dated October, 1889, bound in at end.
Vol. III. pp. vi + (ii) + 316.
Blue cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Pale grey and white decorated
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in January, 1890.
1890
THE LAZY TOUR OF TWO IDLE APPRENTICES. NO THOROUGHFARE. THE PERILS OF
CERTAIN ENGLISH PRISONERS. By CHARLES DICKENS and WILKIE COLLINS.
With Illustrations. London: Chapman and Hall, Limited. 1890. 1 vol.
Ex. Cr. 8vo (5¼ × 7⅞). Pp. vi + (ii) + 327 + (1). Dark green cloth,
gilt, blocked in black. Black end-papers. Eight full-page
illustrations in line, printed separately.
NOTE—Of the stories here published in book form for the
first time _No Thoroughfare_ first appeared as the Extra
Christmas Number to “All the Year Round” for 1867 (1 vol. 6⅝
× 9¾, pp. 48, bright blue paper wrappers, printed in black)
and _The Perils of Certain English Prisoners_ as the
“Christmas Story for 1857” in “Household Words” (1 vol., 5⅝
× 8⅞, pp. 36, buff paper wrappers printed in violet, red and
green).
B.—PLAYS, WRITTEN ALONE AND IN COLLABORATION
1861
A MESSAGE FROM THE SEA: A Drama in Three Acts. By CHARLES DICKENS and
WILKIE COLLINS. London: Published by G. Halsworth, at the office of
“All the Year Round,” Wellington Street, Strand. 1861. 1 vol. Cr.
8vo (4½ × 7¼). Pp. 68. Buff paper wrappers, printed in black.
NOTE—The story upon which this play is based appeared as the
Extra Christmas Number to “All the Year Round” for 1860 (1
vol., 6½ × 9¾, pp. 48, bright blue paper wrappers, printed
in black).
1863
NO NAME: A Drama in Five Acts. Founded on, and adapted from, the story
so entitled. By WILKIE COLLINS Esq. London: Published by G.
Halsworth, at the office of “All the Year Round.” 1863. 1 vol. Cr.
8vo (4½ × 7¼). 60 pp. Pink paper wrappers, printed in black.
NOTE—This play was also issued in De Witt's Acting Series
(No. 104), published by Robert M. de Witt, New York, in pale
yellow wrappers printed in black. The pamphlet is undated.
1866
ARMADALE: A Drama in Three Acts. (Altered from the novel of _Armadale_
for performance on the stage.) By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Published
for the author by Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. 1866. 1 vol.
Cr. 8vo. Pp. 76. Pink paper wrappers, printed in black.
1866
THE FROZEN DEEP: A Drama in Three Acts. By WILKIE COLLINS. (Not
published.) 1866. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4 × 6½). Pp. 46 + (2). Buff
paper wrappers, printed in black.
1867
NO THOROUGHFARE: A Drama in Five Acts. (Altered from the Christmas
story, for performance on the stage.) By CHARLES DICKENS and WILKIE
COLLINS. London: Published at the Office of “All the Year Round,” 26
Wellington Street. 1867. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¼). Pp. 89 + (1).
Buff paper wrappers, printed in black.
NOTES—(i) Another issue was made of this play under the same
date and with identical format and title-page, except for
the addition, beneath the imprint, of the words: Entered at
Stationers' Hall. This issue consists, however, only of pp.
78 + (2), and the text of the play is different from Act
IV., Scene III., to the end.
(ii) The story upon which this play is based appeared as the
Extra Christmas Number to “All the Year Round” for 1867 (see
above, _The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices_, 1890, note).
(iii) Collectors will be interested to note, as an item
in Collinsiana, an American dramatic version of _No
Thoroughfare_ which appeared as No. 348 in French's
Library of Standard Drama. This version is entitled:
IDENTITY OR NO THOROUGHFARE by Louis Lequel. Dramatized from
the Christmas Story of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins.
New York: Samuel French, Publisher, 122 Nassau Street.
1 vol. (4½ × 7½). Pp. 44. Yellow paper wrappers, printed in
black.
The booklet is undated, save for the statement that the play
was entered in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of
the United States for the Southern District of New York in
1867. The wrapper bears French's London as well as his New
York imprint.
1869
BLACK AND WHITE: A Love Story in Three Acts. By WILKIE COLLINS and
CHARLES FLETCHER. London: Printed by C. Whiting, Beaufort House,
Strand. 1869. 1 vol. Slim Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7½). Pp. 56. White paper
wrappers, the first page of which serves as title and is printed as
above.
1870
NO NAME: A Drama in Four Acts. (Altered from the novel for performance
on the stage.) By WILKIE COLLINS. London: Published by the author,
90 Gloucester Place, Portman Square. 1870. 1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4½ ×
7¼). Pp. 160, of which pp. (1) to (4) are unnumbered. The rest of
the book, being printed on one side of the paper only, is paged (5)
to 82. Buff paper wrappers, printed in black.
NOTE—This is a different text from that published in 1863.
1871
THE WOMAN IN WHITE: A Drama in Prologue and Four Acts. (Altered from
the novel for performance on the stage.) By WILKIE COLLINS. London.
Published by the author, 90 Gloucester Place, Portman Square. 1871.
1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7¼). Pp. (172), of which pp. (1) to (4) are
unnumbered. The rest of the book, being printed on one side of the
paper only, is paged (5) to 88. Buff paper wrappers, printed in
black, uniform with _No Name_.
1873
THE DREAM WOMAN: A Mystery in Four Narratives and Two Parts. By WILKIE
COLLINS. Altered and enlarged for reading in public from the
original story published in the collection called _The Queen of
Hearts_. Boston: Privately printed for the author. 1873. 1 vol.
Short Med. 4to (9 × 11⅛). Pp. 110, of which pp. (1) to (3) are
unnumbered. The rest of the book, being printed on one side of the
paper only, is paged 5 to 55. No half-title. Grey paper wrappers;
quarter grey-purple cloth. The wrappers are plain, without printing
of any sort.
1873
THE NEW MAGDALEN: A Dramatic Story in a Prologue and Three Acts. By
WILKIE COLLINS. (Represented for the first time in London at the
Olympic Theatre, May 19, 1873.) London: Published by the author, 90
Gloucester Place, Portman Square. 1873. 1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4⅜ ×
7⅛). Pp. 158, of which pp. (1) to (4) are unnumbered. The rest of
the book, being printed on one side of the paper only, is paged 5 to
81. Buff paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with _No Name_.
1875
MISS GWILT: A Drama in Five Acts. (Altered from the novel _Armadale_.)
By WILKIE COLLINS, printed for performance at the Theatre only, not
published. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. 104. Pp. 1 and 104 act as
outside wrappers.
1877
THE MOONSTONE: A Dramatic Story in Three Acts. (Altered from the novel
for performance on the stage.) By WILKIE COLLINS. (This play is not
published. It is privately printed for the convenience of the
author.) Charles Dickens and Evans, Crystal Palace Press. 1877. 1
vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅛). Pp. 176, of which (1) to (4) are unnumbered.
The rest of the book, being printed on one side of the paper only,
is paged (5) to 88. Paper wrappers, printed in black.
CHARLES READE
1814-1884
CHARLES READE
If no judgment is here attempted of the work of Charles Reade, it is
because he refuses to be “placed,” in the opinion of the present writer.
At times he is so fine, so resilient, so impressive; at others, the
dullest of pamphleteers, a cramped Meredith in style, a very waxwork
among sensationalists. Fortunately certain aspects of his powerful but
clumsy mind have of late been admirably presented. The “London Mercury”
for June, 1921 (Vol. IV., No. 20), contained an article by E. W. Hornung
which all interested would do well to read. In the matter of biography
proper students may be referred (but without confidence) to:
CHARLES READE: DRAMATIST, NOVELIST, JOURNALIST. A memoir compiled
chiefly from his literary remains by CHARLES L. READE and the Rev.
COMPTON READE. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall Ltd., 1887.
This pious work is too rhapsodical to possess more than personal
interest.
CHARLES READE AS I KNEW HIM. By JOHN COLEMAN. London: Treherne and Co.
1903.
Reference is made below to the useful list of plays which concludes this
otherwise rather chaotic book.
I.—EDITIONES PRINCIPES
A.—FICTION, ESSAYS, ETC.
1853
PEG WOFFINGTON: A Novel. By CHARLES READE. London: Richard Bentley,
New Burlington Street. 1853. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. (iv)
+ 331 + (1). No half-title. Paper boards (half cloth), paper label.
White end-papers. Also maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book, although dated 1853, was actually published
on December 17, 1852. The first edition was of 500 copies.
1853
CHRISTIE JOHNSTONE: A Novel. By CHARLES READE Esq., author of _Peg
Woffington_. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1853. 1
vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾). Pp. (iv) + 334 + (2). A note occupies p.
(335). Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers.
Also in maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on August 25, 1853. The first
edition was of 500 copies.
1856
IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND: A Matter of Fact Romance. By CHARLES
READE, author of _Christie Johnstone_, _Peg Woffington_ etc. London:
Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1856. 3 vols. Slim Ex. Cr.
8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 395 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 349 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 344.
Paper boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers. Also pale
maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on August 1, 1856. The
story is based on the play _Gold_ (see below, p. 171).
(ii) Reade replied to certain charges brought against the
novel in a pamphlet, but I cannot determine the details of
its title and appearance.
1857
THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH. By CHARLES READE, author
of _It Is Never Too Late to Mend_, _Peg Woffington_ and _Christie
Johnstone_. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1857. 1
vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. (ii) + 269 + (3). No half-title. Blue
cloth, blocked in gold. Yellow end-papers. Also in pink picture
boards.
NOTE—This book was published on September 28, 1857. The
cloth and boards editions were simultaneous.
1857
WHITE LIES: A Story. By CHARLES READE. London: Trübner and Co., 60
Paternoster Row. 1857. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. v + (i) + 300.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 237 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 231 + (1).
No half-titles. Dark green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in December, 1857. The story,
which appeared serially in the “London Journal,” was based
on Reade's play _The Double Marriage_, itself an adaptation
from the French (see below, p. 174).
1857
*THE BOX TUNNEL. By CHARLES READE. Boston, U.S.A.
NOTE—This short story, published in “Bentley's Miscellany”
in November, 1853, was only issued in book form in America.
1858
CREAM. By CHARLES READE, author of _White Lies_ etc. Contains JACK OF
ALL TRADES: A Matter of Fact Romance and THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A
THIEF. London: Trübner and Co., 60 Paternoster Row. 1858. 1 vol. Ex.
Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅝). Pp. 270. Bright blue embossed cloth, gilt.
Red-chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1858.
1859
LOVE ME LITTLE LOVE ME LONG. By CHARLES READE, author of _It is Never
Too Late To Mend_, _White Lies_ etc. London: Trübner and Co., 60
Paternoster Row. 1859. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 390 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. 358 + (2).
Green embossed cloth, gilt. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1859.
1860
THE EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. By CHARLES READE. London: Trübner and Co., 60
Paternoster Row. 1860. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5⅝ × 8¾). Pp. (iv) + 379 +
(1). Dark purple-brown embossed cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1860, at the author's
own expense. Written in assault of those who had infringed
Reade's rights in _Poverty and Pride_ (see below, p. 172),
it proved too contentious for publishers' tastes.
1861
THE CLOISTER AND THE HEARTH: A Tale of the Middle Ages. By CHARLES
READE, author of _It Is Never Too Late To Mend_, _Christie
Johnstone_, _Peg Woffington_ etc. London: Trübner and Co., 60
Paternoster Row. 1861. 4 vols. Small Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 360.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 384.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 328.
Vol. IV. pp. (ii) + 435 + (1).
No half-titles. Grey-green cloth, gilt. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1861.
1863
HARD CASH: A Matter of Fact Romance. By CHARLES READE. London: Sampson
Low, Son and Marston, 14 Ludgate Hill. 1863. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞
× 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 356.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 365 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 369 + (5). Publishers' announcements, dated
December 10, 1863, occupy pages (371) to (374).
No half-titles. Grey-green cloth, blocked in gold. Pale yellow
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on December 15, 1863. The story
appeared serially in “All the Year Round,” for which
magazine it had been commissioned by Dickens.
1867
GRIFFITH GAUNT: Or JEALOUSY. By CHARLES READE. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1867. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 302.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 318.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 328. Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., dated
October, 1866, bound in at end.
Violet cloth, gilt, blocked in gold and blind. Pale yellow
end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1867, this book was actually published
in October, 1866. The story appeared serially in the
“Argosy.”
1868
FOUL PLAY. By CHARLES READE and DION BOUCICAULT. London: Bradbury
Evans and Co., 11 Bouverie Street. 1868. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 277 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 278.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 261 + (1).
Red cloth, gilt. Cream end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in November or December, 1868.
The story ran serially in “Once a Week” from January of the
same year. In 1881 F. C. Burnand published a parody of the
novel under the title: _Chikkin Hazard: A Novel by Charles
Readit and Dion Bounceycore_. This parody appeared in “Our
Novel Shilling Series,” published by Bradbury, Agnew and
Co., of which the other volumes are pastiches of novels by
Ouida, Victor Hugo, Hawley Smart, and Rhoda Broughton.
1870
PUT YOURSELF IN HIS PLACE. By CHARLES READE, author of _It Is Never
Too Late to Mend_, _Hard Cash_, _Foul Play_, etc. etc. (Quotation
from Horace.) London: Smith Elder and Co., 15 Waterloo Place. 1870.
3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 317 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 318 + (2).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 332.
Green cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1870. The story
appeared serially in the “Cornhill.”
1871
A TERRIBLE TEMPTATION: A Story of the Day. By CHARLES READE. London:
Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1871. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 303 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 310 + (2).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 300.
Purple cloth, gilt, blocked in gold and blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in August, 1871. The story
appeared serially in “Cassell's Magazine.”
1873
A SIMPLETON: A Story of the Day. By CHARLES READE. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1873. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. ix + (i) + 272.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 267 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 305 + (1).
Maroon cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in August, 1873. The story
appeared serially in “London Society.”
(ii) Copies in blue cloth, gilt, are of later issue.
1874
A HERO AND A MARTYR: A True and Accurate Account of the Heroic feats
and sad Calamity of James Lambert. By CHARLES READE (2 Albert
Terrace, Knightsbridge). London: Samuel French, 89 Strand,
Publisher. 1874. 1 vol. Royal 8vo (6¼ × 9⅝). Pp. (viii) + 40. Orange
or green paper wrappers, printed in black. Publisher's
advertisements occupy inside front, and inside and outside back
wrappers. Wood-engraved frontispiece printed on text paper.
1875
TRADE MALICE: A Personal Narrative, and THE WANDERING HEIR: A Matter
of Fact Romance. By CHARLES READE. London: Samuel French, 89 Strand,
1875. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. (viii) + 279 + (1). Publishers'
advertisements occupy pp. (vi) to (viii). Green cloth, gilt. Yellow
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1875. _The Wandering
Heir_ was first printed in the “Graphic.”
1877
A WOMAN HATER. By CHARLES READE, D.C.L. William Blackwood and Sons,
Edinburgh and London, MDCCCLXXVII. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 280.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 285 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(287) and (288).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 282 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy
pp. (283) and (284).
The words “Originally published in 'Blackwood's Magazine'” occupy
verso of half-title in each volume. Bright blue cloth, gilt, blocked
in black. Dark brown end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1877. When serialized
the story was anonymous.
1877
*GOLDEN CROWNS: Sunday Stories. By CHARLES READE, D.C.L. Manchester:
Tubbs and Brooke. 1 vol. 18mo.
NOTE—This publication was of a kind known as an “18mo
packet.” It consisted of a number of loose sheets enclosed
in a paper wrapper, designed either to gum or to tuck in,
but wholly detached from its contents. Never having seen a
copy of the packet in question, I cannot do more than
conjecture that the loose sheets bore each a brief moral
tale, which a devout parent could administer Sunday by
Sunday to the deserving young.
1883
READIANA: Comments on Current Events. By CHARLES READE, D.C.L. with a
steel-plate portrait. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1883. 1
vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. vi + 329 + (1). Frontispiece and
title-page, printed together but not on text paper, are inset
between pp. (ii) and (iii). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
July, 1882, bound in at end. Publishers' advertisement occupies p.
(ii). Red cloth, gilt, blocked in black, uniform with the cheap
edition of Reade's novels published just previously to this book's
appearance. Brown-purple and white decorated end-papers. Engraved
portrait frontispiece printed on same paper as title. Line engraving
on title-page.
NOTE—Although this book is dated 1883, it was actually
published in October, 1882.
1884
SINGLE HEART AND DOUBLE FACE: A Matter of Fact Romance: By CHARLES
READE, D.C.L. London. Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1884. 1 vol.
Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜). Pp. (iv) + 240. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp.,
dated December, 1883, bound in at end. Fawn cloth gilt, blocked in
red and blue. Pale green and white decorated end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1884. The story
appeared serially in “Harper's Magazine.”
1884
GOOD STORIES OF MAN AND OTHER ANIMALS. By CHARLES READE, D.C.L.
Illustrations by E. A. Abbey, Percy Macquoid and Joseph Nash.
London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1884. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5 ×
7½). Pp. (ii) + 287 + (1). Frontispiece and title-page, printed
together but not on text paper, are inset before p. (i), pp. (i) and
(ii) forming a single leaf pasted to back of title. No half-title.
Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated October, 1884, bound in at end.
Four illustrations in line, of which one is the frontispiece; all
printed separately. Red cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Uniform with
_Readiana_. Green and white decorated end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1884.
1884
THE JILT: And Other Stories. By CHARLES READE, D.C.L. Four
Illustrations by Joseph Nash. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly.
1884. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. (ii) + 282 + (2). Frontispiece
and title-page, printed together but not on text paper, are inset
before p. (i), pp. (i) and (ii) forming a single leaf pasted to back
of title. No half-title. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated
September, 1884, bound in at end. Four full-page illustrations in
line, of which one is the frontispiece; all printed separately. Line
engraving on title. Red cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Uniform with
_Readiana_. Green and white decorated end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1884.
1884
A PERILOUS SECRET. By CHARLES READE, author of _Hard Cash_, _Put
Yourself in His Place_, _It Is Never Too Late To Mend_, _Griffith
Gaunt_ etc. London: Richard Bentley and Son, New Burlington Street,
Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. 1884. 2 vols. Cr.
8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 296.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 312.
Red flowered cloth, gilt. Green and white decorated end-papers.
NOTE—Although this book is dated 1884, it was not actually
published until March 10, 1885. The story appeared serially
in the “Temple Bar Magazine.”
1888
BIBLE CHARACTERS: By CHARLES READE, D.C.L., author of _It Is Never Too
Late To Mend_ etc. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1888. 1
vol. Fcap. 8vo (4⅛ × 6½). Pp. (vi) + 106. Publishers' catalogue, 32
pp., dated September, 1888, bound in at end. Dark red paper
wrappers, gilt. Black end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in September, 1888.
1910
A GOOD FIGHT. By CHARLES READE. Original version of _The Cloister and
The Hearth_, with an introduction by ANDREW LANG. London: Henry
Frowde. 1910. Fcap. 8vo (4½ × 6¾). Pp. (xii) + 208. Fifteen
illustrations after Charles Keene printed on text paper. Dark
olive-green cloth, blocked in gold. White end-papers.
NOTE—This is the first edition in book form of a story which
appeared in 1859 in “Once a Week.” Reade afterwards expanded
his idea into _The Cloister and the Hearth_.
EDITIONES PRINCIPES (_Continued_)
B.—PLAYS: ORIGINAL, TRANSLATED, AND WRITTEN IN COLLABORATION
[1834 or 1835]
*PEREGRINE PICKLE.
NOTE—Reade has himself left a statement that while at Oxford
he printed at his own cost a few copies of this dramatic
version of Smollett's famous novel.
[1851]
THE LADIES' BATTLE: Or UN DUEL EN AMOUR. A Comedy in Three Acts.
Hailes Lacy, Wellington Street, Strand, London. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼
× 7¼). Pp. 35 + (1). Note on p. (3) initialled “C.R.” Salmon-pink
paper wrappers printed in black, uniform with the other volumes in
Lacy's Acting Edition, of which this is No. 47.
[1851]
ANGELO: A Tragedy in Four Acts. Adapted to the English Stage by the
author of _The Ladies' Battle_, _Peregrine Pickle_ etc. London:
Hailes Lacy, Wellington Street, Strand. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼).
Pp. 24. Salmon-pink paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with
the other volumes in Lacy's Acting Editions, of which this is No.
57.
[1852]
THE LOST HUSBAND: A Drama in Four Acts. Written and Adapted from the
French by the author of _The Ladies' Battle_. London: Thomas Hailes
Lacy, Wellington Street, Strand. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼). Pp. 36.
Salmon-pink paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with the other
volumes in Lacy's Acting Editions, of which this is No. 86.
NOTE—This play is based on a French drama, _Les Dames de la
Halle_.
[1853]
GOLD: A Drama in Five Acts. By CHARLES READE, one of the authors of
_Masks and Faces_ etc. Thomas Hailes Lacy, Wellington Street,
Strand, London. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼). Pp. 48. Salmon-pink
paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with the other volumes in
Lacy's Acting Edition, of which this is No. 152.
[1854]
THE COURIER OF LYONS: Or THE ATTACK UPON THE MAIL: A Drama in Four
Acts. Translated from the French of MM. Moreau, Siraudin and
Delacourt. Thomas Hailes Lacy, Wellington Street, Strand. 1 vol.
Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼). Pp. 43 + (1). Advertisements occupy p. (44).
Salmon-pink paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with the other
volumes in Lacy's Acting Edition, of which this is No. 220.
1854
MASKS AND FACES: Or BEFORE AND BEHIND THE CURTAIN: A Comedy in Two
Acts. By TOM TAYLOR and CHARLES READE. London: Richard Bentley, New
Burlington Street. 1854. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Pp. (viii) + 71
+ (1). Mustard-yellow paper wrappers, printed in black as
title-page.
1854
TWO LOVES AND A LIFE: A Drama in Four Acts. By TOM TAYLOR and CHARLES
READE. Produced at the Theatre Royal, Adelphi, April 1854. London:
Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1854. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ ×
6¾). Pp. (viii) + 85 + (3). Mustard-yellow paper wrappers, printed
in black as title-page.
1854
THE KING'S RIVAL: A Drama in Five Acts. By TOM TAYLOR and CHARLES
READE, authors of _Masks and Faces_, _Two Loves and a Life_ etc.
etc. First produced at the Theatre Royal, St. James's, October 4,
1854. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1854. 1 vol.
Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Pp. (viii) + 72. Mustard-yellow paper wrappers,
printed in black as title-page.
NOTES—(i) The three preceding items were also issued as one
volume bound in maroon cloth, blocked in gold and blind, and
lettered on the spine “Dramas by Tom Taylor and Charles
Reade,” and with pale yellow end-papers. The sheets used
were those of the original pamphlet issue, the separate
title-pages and half-titles being preserved, but the sheets
being cut to measure 4⅛ × 6⅝.
(ii) In their original separate form _Masks and Faces_ and
_Two Loves and a Life_ were published on July 1, and _The
King's Rival_ on October 17, 1854.
1857
POVERTY AND PRIDE: A Drama in Five Acts By CHARLES READE. Being the
authorised English version of _Les Pauvres de Paris_, drama by
Messrs. Edouard Brisebarre and Eugène Nus. London: Richard Bentley,
New Burlington Street. 1856. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼). Pp. 64.
Paper wrappers.
NOTE—This book was published on August 12, 1857.
1857
THE HYPOCHONDRIAC. Adapted to the English stage from the _Malade
Imaginaire_ of Molière. By CHARLES READE. London: William Clowes and
Sons, 14 Charing Cross. And Ticknor and Fields, Boston, U.S. 1857. 1
vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7⅛). Pp. 59 + (1). Light brown paper wrappers,
printed in black; wording as title-page.
NOTE—This play was later acted under the title _The Robust
Invalid_ (June, 1870). I do not know whether a printed text
exists with this title.
1859
LE FAUBOURG SAINT-GERMAIN. Pièce en deux Actes. Ecrite en Français par
CHARLES READE. Paris. Typographie: Morris et Comp. Rue Amelot 64.
1859. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5⅛ × 7⅜). Pp. 69 + (3). Pale blue paper
wrappers, printed in black; wording as title-page.
[?1867]
DORA: A Pastoral Poem in Three Acts. With New Scenic Effect and
Appropriate Music. Founded on Mr. Tennyson's poem and written by
CHARLES READE. London: Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford
Street and Charing Cross. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅜). Pp. 53 + (3).
Yellow paper wrappers, printed in black with the single word “Dora”
enclosed in decorative frame.
NOTES—(i) This play was reissued about 1872 or 1873 by
Williams and Strahan, 7 Lawrence Lane, Cheapside, in a
fifty-page pamphlet measuring 4⅛ × 7⅛ and wrappered in buff
paper, printed merely with the word “Dora” in black. The
text shows slight variations from that of the first issue.
(ii) The date of the first of the above issues is doubtful.
_Dora_ was written in 1863 or 1864, but evidence is wanting
to show whether it was then printed, or not until its first
production in 1867. It was revived in the early nineties.
[?1867]
THE DOUBLE MARRIAGE: A Drama in Five Acts. By AUGUSTE MAQUET and
CHARLES READE. London: Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford
Street and Charing Cross, 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7½). Pp. (iv) + 80.
Yellow paper wrappers, printed in black, with play title only
enclosed in decorative frame. This pamphlet is uniform in style with
_Dora_.
NOTE—This play is based on _Le Château Grantier_ by Maquet.
The date of printing is conjectural, being that of its first
production. Reade's novel _White Lies_ (see above, p. 161)
is a fictional version of the same plot.
[?1869]
KATE PEYTON: Or JEALOUSY. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7⅛). Pp. 84. Pink
paper wrappers, printed with play title only.
NOTES—(i) This booklet bears no printer's name, date, or
other mark of identification. The text differs slightly from
that issued in 1883 and described below.
(ii) The date is purely conjectural. Coleman mentions no
play of this title, but speaks of _Griffith Gaunt_ as having
been produced in 1868 or 1869. The above item being a
dramatic version of _Griffith Gaunt_, I am inclined to think
that this is the play referred to, and have accordingly
dated it as having been printed about the time of the first
production.
[?1872 or 1873]
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND. Drama in Five Acts. By CHARLES READE.
Author of _Gold_; _Rachel the Reaper_; _Ladies' Battle_; _Nobs and
Snobs_; _The Lost Husband_; _The Double Marriage_; _Kate Peyton_;
_Foul Play_; _Put Yourself in His Place_; _The Wandering Heir_;
_Shilly Shally_; _The Courier of Lyons_; etc. etc. And one of the
authors of _Masks and Faces_; _Two Loves and a Life_; _The First
Printer_; _The King's Rival_. London: Printed by Williams and
Strahan, 7 Lawrence Lane, Cheapside. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7) Pp.
97 + (1). Buff paper wrappers, printed in black with the play title
only.
NOTES—(i) This play was reissued in 1890 in a pamphlet
printed for private circulation by W. Spearing, 1, Great
Queen Street, W.C. The booklet measures 5½ × 8½; contains
pp. 148—of which (1) to (4) are regular prelims., (5) to
(146) are printed alternately and paged (5) to 76, and (147)
and (148) are blank—and is bound in grey paper wrappers,
printed in black. The text of this second version shows
considerable variation from that of the first, and the play
is in four acts instead of five.
(ii) The date at the head of this item is conjectural.
Reade's first original dramatization of _It's Never Too Late
to Mend_ was written by 1864 and produced in 1865. Coleman
speaks in that year of receiving from Laura Seymour a
“yellow covered book” of the text of the play, and this
book, if printed, was the real first edition. But I cannot
prove the existence of a printed text at that date, and
prefer to give first place to the pamphlet here described,
although, because of the other plays mentioned on the
title-page, it cannot be of earlier date than 1872.
(iii) In July, 1860, a dramatization of Reade's novel had
been issued in Lacy's Acting Edition. Reade was rightly
furious at the unauthorized issue of this version, and
hastened to prepare one of his own. For the benefit of those
interested I append details of the pirate booklet.
[1860-July]
NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND. A Drama of Real Life in Four Acts, founded on
MR. CHARLES READE'S Popular Novel. By COLIN HAZLEWOOD, author of
_The Return of the Wanderer_, _Jenny Foster_, _Trials of Poverty_,
_Going to Chobham_, etc. etc. Thomas Hailes Lacy, 89 Strand
(opposite Southampton Street, Covent Garden Market), London. 1 vol.
Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼). Pp. 65 + (1). List of plays occupies p. (66).
Salmon-pink paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with the other
volumes in Lacy's Acting Editions. This volume is unnumbered.
[1877]
THE LADIES' BATTLE: Or UN DUEL EN AMOUR: A Comedy in Three Acts. By
CHARLES READE Esq., author of _Gold_, _Art_, _The Lost Husband_,
_The Foster Sisters_, and one of the authors of _Masks and_ _Faces_,
_Two Loves and a Life_, _King's Rival_ etc. etc. London: Samuel
French, Publisher, 89 Strand. New York: Samuel French and Son,
Publishers, 122 Nassau Street. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼). Pp. 41 +
(3). Advertisements occupy pp. (43) and (44). Salmon-pink paper
wrappers, printed in black, uniform with the other volumes in
French's (late Lacy's) Acting Editions, of which this is No. 1609.
NOTE—This is a revised version of the play originally
published in 1851 (see above, p. 170).
1878
THE WELL BORN WORKMAN: Or A MAN OF THE DAY. By CHARLES READE, author
of _Never Too Late to Mend_, _Foul Play_ etc. London: Printed for
Williams and Strahan, 74 New Cut, Lambeth. 1878. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo
(4¼ × 6⅞). Pp. 82 + (2). Buff paper wrappers, printed in black, with
the title and sub-title of the play.
1883
FOUL PLAY. Drama in a Prologue and Five Acts. By CHARLES READE.
London. 1883. Printed by J. C. Durant, Clement's House, Clement's
Inn Passage, Strand, W.C. But not published. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ ×
8½). Pp. 72. Grey paper wrappers, printed in black as title-page.
NOTE—This play was written in collaboration with Boucicault
and produced early in 1868. It was attacked on the ground
that it was pirated from a French drama: _La Portefeuille
Rouge_. Reade hotly denied that he had read or even heard of
this French play, and Coleman considers the denial to have
been genuine enough. He is, however, less certain that
Boucicault was not familiar with the supposed French
original. _Foul Play_, as first acted, was later revived
under different titles—_The Scuttled Ship_ and _Our Seaman_.
Perhaps the text described above and bearing Reade's name
only is a different version from that produced with
Boucicault. Of the text in collaboration I can trace no
printed issue.
1883
KATE PEYTON: Or JEALOUSY: A Drama, in a prologue and Four Acts. By
CHARLES READE. London: 1883. Printed by J. C. Durant, Clement's
House, Clement's Inn Passage, Strand, W.C. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ ×
8½). Pp. 76. Grey paper wrappers, printed as title-page.
1883
LOVE AND MONEY: An Original Drama in a Prologue and Four Acts. By
CHARLES READE and HENRY PETTITT. London. 1883. Printed by J. C.
Durant, Clement's House, Clement's Inn Passage, Strand, W.C. But not
published. 1 vol. Small Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7). Pp. 53 + (3). Grey paper
wrappers printed in black.
NOTE—There being no title-page to this pamphlet, the
lettering given above is that of the wrapper.
1883
THE COUNTESS AND THE DANCER: Or HIGH LIFE IN VIENNA. A Comedy Drama in
Four Acts. Altered from a masterpiece of VICTORIEN SARDOU by CHARLES
READE. London: 1883. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8⅜). Pp. vi + 60. Grey
paper wrappers, printed in black; wording as title-page.
NOTE
The bibliography of Reade's plays is obscure and confusing. I have
listed in the foregoing pages only those of the printed issue of which I
have found certain evidence. He is known, however, to have written many
more, some at least of which were probably printed privately. Wherefore
it seems desirable here to supply such particulars as can be found of
the writing and acting of Reade's other plays. The facts are taken
mainly from Coleman's book, which contains as an appendix a good list of
titles and dates of production. Unfortunately the book itself is so
confusingly put together that text and appendix are far from
complementary and at times even in conflict.
A. EARLY UNACTED PLAYS, WRITTEN BEFORE 1851.
THE WAY THINGS TURN.
THE DANGEROUS PATH.
THE LOST SISTERS.
MARGUERITE.
LUCREZIA BORGIA.
A LADY'S OATH.
CHRISTIE JOHNSTONE
(The novel of the same name was built, long after, on the ruins of
this unacceptable play).
B. ACTED PLAYS, WITH DATES OF FIRST PRODUCTION AND OTHER AVAILABLE
DETAILS.
THE VILLAGE TALE (produced 1852)
(Based on _Claudie_, by George Sand. Revived in 1872 under the title
_Rachel the Reaper_).
ART (produced 1852)
(An adaptation of _Tiridate_ and later christened _Nance Oldfield_).
NOBS AND SNOBS (produced 1854)
(Revived in 1865 under the title _Honour before Titles_).
THE FIRST PRINTER (produced 1854).
FREE LABOUR (produced 1870)
(A dramatic version of the novel _Put Yourself in his Place_).
SHILLY SHALLY (produced 1872)
(An unauthorized dramatization of Anthony Trollope's novel _Ralph
the Heir_. Reade's action in appropriating the story was deeply
resented by Trollope).
THE WANDERING HEIR (produced 1872 or 1873)
(A dramatic version of the story of the same name).
JEALOUSY (produced 1875)
(An adaptation of Sardou's comedy _Andrée_, and not to be confused
with Reade's dramatizations of his own novel _Griffith Gaunt_).
RACHEL THE REAPER (produced 1876)
(See above: _A Village Tale_).
JOAN (produced 1876)
(Dramatized, without permission, from _That Lass o' Lowries_, by
Mrs. Hodgson Burnett).
DRINK (produced 1879)
(Adapted from _L'Assommoir_ by Emile Zola).
SINGLE HEART AND DOUBLE FACE (produced 1882)
(A dramatic version of the story of the same name).
GEORGE JOHN WHYTE-MELVILLE
1821-1878
G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE
Although as an authority on matters sporting Whyte-Melville stands
alone, it is yet impossible, with the best will in the world and with
all the respect due to his personal chivalry and courage, to regard him
in the rôle of novelist as anything but absurd.
His books, where they deal with the science and the joys of hunting,
have the vivid appeal that only delighted conviction can give; but as
fiction, as readings of life adequately expressed in English prose, they
are negligible and often ludicrous.
Whyte-Melville, the sportsman, is a figure of dignity and inspiration;
Whyte-Melville, the social novelist, is Ouida in breeches. That the
breeches are of perfect cut may not disguise the conventional swagger of
the legs they cover. The ways trodden by this author in his search for
character and incident are the exclusive ways of Victorian landlordism.
Their pavements are thronged with fair ladies and brave gentlemen, while
in the roadway crowd the lower orders—some mildly criminal, some a
little comic, but the majority joyous in their privilege to serve the
brilliant purpose of their betters. The antics of these humble creatures
are watched with kindly patronage by those to whom wealth and pleasure
are a normal birthright. Conversing among themselves, heartily but with
elegance, the Guardsmen and squirelings of the fashionable clubs find
time to exchange gracious greeting with their poorer neighbours, whose
uncouth speech strikes quaintly pleasant on their cultured ears. An
instruction is given; half a sovereign changes hands; a cap is dutifully
touched. God willed that of His creatures some be rich and others poor;
let the former bear themselves honourably and remember (when not
otherwise engaged) the duties of their station; let the latter be happy
in the lot to which Providence has called them.
But genial condescension to his dependants is not the only or even the
main business of the Whyte-Melville gentleman. His life has two
absorbing interests—horses and ladies. To a point these interests merge.
With identical _expertise_ he takes the points of a fine girl and of a
blood mare. The former in her drawing-room, the latter in her stable,
await in gleaming beauty his appreciative caress. At their point of
ultimate usefulness, however, femininity and horseflesh part company.
The latter is the hero's ally, the former his quarry in the chase; and
while his adventures on horseback are told with the zest and knowledge
of real authority, his exploits in lady-killing have the tedious
unreality of a tale only half imagined and not a quarter lived.
It is for the falseness of his emotional writing that Whyte-Melville
challenges comparison with Ouida. And, the comparison made, one is bound
to concede victory to the latter. Both deal in the passions of the nobly
born; but while the woman has at least the courage of bad taste, the
man, fettered by good form, achieves no taste at all. Whyte-Melville's
novels, like _Hamlet_, are full of quotations. He is the father of
novelette; the wellspring of cliché. His lovely ladies are not women nor
his gallants men: they are the dummies of suburban melodrama,
exquisitely gowned, faultlessly tailored, mouthing the phrases of
drawing-room passionates, but, even as dummies, failing to achieve that
semblance of gilded sin that is their only purpose.
Nevertheless, despite their ineptitude, the books of Whyte-Melville
compel a curious and obscure respect. Respect for what it were hard to
say, for his written word is his own deadliest accuser. Sentences might
be chosen almost at random from the novels of social life that would
prove his possession of every fault possible to a novelist and to a
writer of prose. And yet, through the screen of their fatuity, one has
glimpses of the personality of the author himself—a personality at which
one may make mock, but only with affection. This country gentleman
turned novelist was an upright, guileless creature, hard riding,
generous hearted, as unconscious of his innate snobbery as of his
natural modesty, conventional because unaware of any world or school of
thought beyond the narrow limits of his own. His pictures of England are
as dull and as unreal as the pretty garden scenes in water-colour
produced by county ladies to this day; but both the painter of these
lifeless pictures and the comfortable amateurs responsible for horrid
views of moorland and herbaceous border command a sort of wistful
admiration. There is something so clean and easy and contented in the
mentality from which these books and drawings spring that, if only it
were not so stupid, so impenetrable to variety of idea, its passing
might well be looked on with regret. Whyte-Melville's qualities, like
those of the type he represents, are more obscure than his defects. The
class of country gentleman to which he personally belonged is rapidly
disappearing; when it is gone we shall wonder a little perplexedly why
we miss it. It was so easy to ridicule, so pathetically a target for
mockery and persecution. In our greater wisdom we have shot it to
pieces, riddling its obtuse selfishness, its bland complacency, with the
bullets of reforming zeal. But something fine will have perished with
it, something indefinable but leaving a sense of gap, to remind us that
destruction is never quite the discriminating triumph that iconoclasts
claim for it in advance.
This, then, is one contemporary view of Whyte-Melville's novels, whose
only demonstrable virtue is their sportsmanship. One may quote from
_Market Harborough_, from _Riding Recollections_, even from the social
stories, passages of speed and exhilaration, passages of unaffected
wisdom and perception, descriptive of the hunting that, next to honour,
he loved best of all that life could offer. In opposition may be printed
page after page of stilted rhetoric, mawkish humour, the falsest of
sentiment, the most wanton elaboration of noun and adjective. But after
all quotation is done and a balance struck, there will still remain the
elusive quality that gave character to the class from which the author
came, an essence of breeding and tradition that no phrasing can
crystallize, that vanishes in the moment of its expression. For this
spiritual quality Whyte-Melville is admirable; for his literary faults
he is unreadable. Such, in a nutshell, is the judgment of one reader who
cannot excuse a book stupidity and pretentiousness for the sake of
isolated passages of hunting lore, but seeks to appreciate in the
character of a social generation that is fading fast, a distinction that
to all seeming will fade with it.
There are, however, readers of other kinds, and for their sake and
because among our grandmothers and our aunts the stories of
Whyte-Melville were avidly admired, a summary classification of his
books shall be attempted.
He began as a writer of autobiographies, of the part-fashionable,
part-sporting, part-knockabout kind, the tradition of which came down
from the eighteenth century, through Frederick Marryat, to a dozen
writers of the hard-drinking, riotous forties. _Digby Grand_ (1853) and
_Tilbury Nogo_ (1854) are essentially novels of this type, while in
_Kate Coventry_ (1856) the author merely adapts the recipe to the needs
of a girl heroine. _The Interpreter_ (1858) strikes a note of its own,
for the scenes in the Crimea and in Turkey were drawn from the writer's
experience and give a convincing picture of the period and its
happenings. Apart from them, however, the book is an ordinary
first-person record of the social wanderings of a young Englishman of
family.
Between the second and the third of the books above mentioned had
appeared _General Bounce_ (1855), a transitional novel, not wholly apart
from those that preceded it, but halfway to a place among the stories of
contemporary love-making and sport, of which the author was to produce a
lengthy list. These novels of English society contain much of the most
repellent of Whyte-Melville's work, although many have refreshing
interludes of hunting and scenes on the racecourse or in the stable that
will endear them to specialists in the genre, if they cannot reconcile
others to the artificial tedium of the love stories and the clumsy
contriving of the plots. Here are the titles of the social novels:
GENERAL BOUNCE (1855),
GOOD FOR NOTHING (1861),
THE BROOKES OF BRIDLEMERE (1864),
THE WHITE ROSE (1868),
M OR N (1869),
CONTRABAND (1871),
SATANELLA (1872),
UNCLE JOHN (1874),
ROY'S WIFE (1878),
BLACK BUT COMELY (1879).
Next in numerical importance are the costume novels, beloved of an
earlier generation, but to the critical modern reader the poorest of
poor stuff, so compact of Wardour Street, of hollow sentiment, and of
forced, démodé attitude as to be intolerable.
HOLMBY HOUSE (1860)
(A tale of the Civil War with a strong bias in favour of the
Cavalier party),
THE QUEEN'S MARIES (1862)
(A romantic tribute to Mary, Queen of Scots),
THE GLADIATORS (1863)
(A novel of Rome and Judæa at the time of Christ),
CERISE (1866)
(An eighteenth-century tale),
SARCHEDON (1871)
(A novel centring round the figure of Semiramis),
SISTER LOUISE (1876)
(A novel of seventeenth-century France),
ROSINE (1877)
(A novel of the French Revolution).
There remain two books of purely sporting significance, and
_Katerfelto_.
_Market Harborough_ (1861), the pride of the Pytchley, is hardly a
novel. It is a string of hunting and horse-dealing episodes into which
Whyte-Melville threw all that he had of science and of enthusiasm.
_Riding Recollections_ (1878) are what their name implies. It is not for
any but the expert to criticize these books, which are held in some
quarters to be essential textbooks to a hunting education. _Katerfelto_
(1875) will also escape comment here, but for a different reason. Among
my childhood memories this Exmoor tale glows adored, uncriticized. How
will it read to-day? To put it to the test frightens me. I dare not open
it.
EDITIONES PRINCIPES
FICTION, POETRY, ESSAYS
1850
HORACE: ODES, EPODES AND CARMEN SÆCULARE Translated into English verse
by G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE Esq., late Coldstream Guards. London:
Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Stationers Hall Court. 1850. 1 vol. Demy
8vo (5½ × 8½). Pp. (viii) + 120. Dark green cloth, blocked in gold
and blind. Yellow end-papers.
1853
DIGBY GRAND: An Autobiography. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE. London: John
W. Parker and Son, West Strand. 1853. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 303 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 312 + (4). No half-title. Publishers'
advertisements, paged 1-4, occupy pp. (313) to (316).
Red cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in February, 1853. The story
appeared serially in “Fraser's Magazine.”
1854
TILBURY NOGO: Or PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF AN UNSUCCESSFUL MAN. By the
author of _Digby Grand_. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly.
1854. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 8¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 310 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 348.
No half-titles. Brown cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1854. The story
appeared serially in “The Sporting Magazine.”
1855
GENERAL BOUNCE: Or THE LADY AND THE LOCUSTS. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE.
London: John W. Parker and Son, West Strand. 1855. 2 vols. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 296 + (4). Advertisement of _Digby Grand_
occupies verso of half-title. Publishers' advertisements, numbered 1
to 4, occupy pp. (297) to (300).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 278 + (2). No half-title. Publishers'
advertisements occupy pp. (279) to (280).
Pale brown cloth, gilt. Pale brick end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1855 this book was actually published in
December, 1854. The story appeared serially in “Fraser's
Magazine.”
1856
KATE COVENTRY: An Autobiography. Edited by G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE,
author of _Digby Grand_. Originally published in “Fraser's
Magazine.” London: John W. Parker and Son, West Strand. 1856. 1 vol.
Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾). Advertisement of books by the same author
occupies p. (323) and publishers' list p. (324). Scarlet ribbed
cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Chalk-blue end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1856.
[1857]
THE ARAB'S RIDE TO CAIRO: A Legend of the Desert. By G. J. WHYTE
MELVILLE. Illustrated and Illuminated by Mrs. Wolfe Murray. Seton &
Mackenzie, Edinburgh. Houlston & Stoneman, London. 1 vol. Fcap. 4to
(6⅞ × 8¼). Pp. 14. Red cloth, full gilt, blocked in gold, or green
morocco, full gilt, tooled in gold and black. Yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This volume was published in January, 1857.
(ii) It is hardly a book in the ordinary sense, consisting,
as it does, of 14 pp. of stout card printed on one side
only. Each page is printed in three or more colours, vaguely
after the style of an illuminated MS. Pseudo-gothic
lettering is used throughout, and the whole volume is
typical of the Victorian table book at its most ornate.
1858
THE INTERPRETER: A Tale of the War. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE, Author of
_Digby Grand_, _General Bounce_ etc. etc. Originally published in
“Fraser's Magazine.” London: John Parker and Son, West Strand. 1858.
1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅝). Pp. iv + 431 + (1). No half-title.
Publishers' catalogue, 8 pp., bound in at end. Red cloth, gilt,
blocked in black, uniform with _Kate Coventry_. Chocolate
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in January, 1858.
1860
HOLMBY HOUSE: A Tale of Old Northants. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE. Author
of _Digby Grand_, _The Interpreter_ etc. Originally published in
“Fraser's Magazine.” London: John Parker and Son, West Strand, 1860.
2 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 325 + (3). Pp. (i) and (ii) precede
frontispiece and form technically a half-title, but p. (i) is not
printed as such. Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (327) and
(328).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 344 + (4). No half-title. Publishers'
advertisements, numbered 1 to 4, occupy pp. (345) to (348).
Frontispiece in coloured lithograph to Vol. I., printed separately.
Red-brown cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1860.
1861
MARKET HARBOROUGH: Or HOW MR. SAWYER WENT TO THE SHIRES. London:
Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1861. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7½).
Pp. viii + 312. Olive-green cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1861.
1861
GOOD FOR NOTHING: Or ALL DOWN HILL. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE. Author of
_Digby Grand_, _The Interpreter_, _Holmby House_ etc. Originally
published in “Fraser's Magazine.” London: Parker, Son and Bourn,
West Strand. 1861. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 298 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy p.
(299).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 265 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(267) and (268).
No half-titles. Maroon cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in December, 1861.
1862
MARKET HARBOROUGH: Or HOW MR. SAWYER WENT TO THE SHIRES. 4th Edition.
INSIDE THE BAR: Or SKETCHES AT SOAKINGTON. By the author of _Digby
Grand_ etc. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1862. 1 vol.
Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7½). Pp. iv + 393 + (3). Buff cloth, printed, in red
and black. White end-papers, of which the first inside front is
printed with publishers' advertisements.
NOTE—This volume is the first edition of _Inside the Bar_.
It was published in April, 1862.
1862
THE QUEEN'S MARIES: A Romance of Holyrood. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE,
Author of _Digby Grand_, _The Interpreter_, _Holmby House_, _Good
for Nothing_ etc. London: Parker, Son and Bourn, West Strand. 1862.
2 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 304.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 254 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy p.
(255), and 8 pp. advertisements, printed on text paper but numbered
1 to 8, are bound in at end.
No half-titles, but in Vol. II. 2 pp. blank precede title. Violet
cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1862.
1863
THE GLADIATORS: A Tale of Rome and Judæa. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE,
author of _Digby Grand_, _The Interpreter_, _Holmby House_, _The
Queen's Maries_ etc. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and
Green. 1863. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 324.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 305 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. iv + 291 + (1).
No half-titles. Red embossed cloth, gilt, blocked in gold and blind.
Pale chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was announced for publication by Parker in
November, 1863. In January, 1864, it appeared over Longmans'
imprint, but dated 1863. Whether any copies are in existence
with a Parker imprint I do not know; if so they are the real
first edition.
1864
THE BROOKES OF BRIDLEMERE. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE. Author of _The
Gladiators_, _Digby Grant_ (sic), _The Interpreter_, _Holmby House_,
_The Queen's Maries_ etc. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly.
1864. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 293 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 307 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 293 + (3). Publishers' catalogue, 36 pp., and
dated October, 1864, bound in at end.
No half-titles. Red cloth, gilt. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on October 29, 1864.
1866
CERISE: A Tale of the Last Century. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE, author of
_The Gladiators_, _Digby Grand_, _The Brookes of Bridlemere_ etc.
London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1866. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo
(4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. iv + 309 + (3).
Vol. II. pp. iv + 301+ (3).
Vol. III. pp. iv + 318 + (2).
No half-titles. Magenta cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale cream
end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in April, 1866.
(ii) _Cerise_ was rapidly reprinted, and it is curious to
report that copies of the _third_ edition exist with
publishers' catalogue at the end of Vol. III. dated March,
1866—_i.e._, prior to the book's _first_ publication. The
first edition contained no catalogue.
1868
THE WHITE ROSE. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE, author of _Cerise_, _The
Gladiators_, _Brookes of Bridlemere_ etc. London: Chapman and Hall,
193 Piccadilly. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 262 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 263 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. vii + (i) + 252.
Red-purple cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in February, 1868.
1869
BONES AND I: Or THE SKELETON AT HOME. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE. Author
of _The Gladiators_, _Cerise_, _Digby Grand_ etc. London: Chapman
and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1869. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅜). Pp. iv +
287 + (1). No half-title. Brown cloth, gilt. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1869.
1869
SONGS AND VERSES. By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE. London: Chapman and Hall,
193 Piccadilly. 1869. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. vii + (i) + 136.
Errata slip inserted at p. 1. Dark red cloth, gilt, blocked in
black. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in September, 1869.
(ii) The author revised and added to the poems in this book
on several occasions after its original publication.
Strictly speaking, any new edition which contains even one
fresh poem may rank as a first edition, and collectors of
Whyte-Melville, who are also purists, may therefore be
advised not to pass over any one of the first six or seven
editions of _Songs and Verses_ without satisfying themselves
that no fresh matter distinguishes it from its predecessors.
1869
M. OR N. “SIMILIA SIMILIBUS CURANTUR.” By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE. Author
of _Digby Grand_, _Cerise_, _The Gladiators_ etc. London: Chapman
and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1869. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 312 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. vi + 313 + (3). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp.
(315) (316).
Light brown (or brown) embossed cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published on October 15, 1869. I do not
know which shade of binding is the earlier.
1871
CONTRABAND: Or A LOSING HAZARD. By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE. Author of
_Digby Grand_, _Cerise_, _The White Rose_ etc. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1871. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 307 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. vi + 281 + (1).
Bright blue cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—Although this book is dated 1871, it was actually
published in December, 1870.
1871
SARCHEDON: A Legend of the Great Queen. By G. J. WHYTE MELVILLE.
Author of _The Gladiators_, _Holmby House_, etc. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1871. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 289 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (vi) + 270.
Vol. III. pp. (vi) + 251 + (1).
Bright blue cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Pale chocolate
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1871.
1872
SATANELLA: A Story of Punchestown. By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE. London:
Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1872. 2 vols. Sm. Cr. 8vo (5 ×
7¼).
Vol. I. pp. vii + (i) + 260.
Vol. II. pp. vii + (i) + 267 + (1).
Lithographed frontispiece to each volume printed separately and one
other similar illustration in vol. ii. Red (or maroon) cloth,
blocked in black and gold. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in June, 1872. I do not know
which shade of binding is the earlier.
1873
THE TRUE CROSS: A Legend of the Church. By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE.
Author of _The Gladiators_, _Sarchedon_ etc. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1873. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜). Pp. (iv) + 241
+ (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated January, 1873, bound in
at end. Green (or chocolate) cloth, blocked in black and gold. Pale
yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in March, 1873.
(ii) Copies in red-brown cloth, gilt, without decorative
blocking, are of later issue, although they sometimes
contain a catalogue of the original date. Which shade of the
original binding is the earlier, I do not know.
1874
UNCLE JOHN: A Novel. By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE. Author of _Market
Harborough_, _The Gladiators_, _Kate Coventry_, _Satanella_ etc.
etc. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1874. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo
(5 × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 267 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 236.
Vol. III. pp. (viii) + 218 + (2).
Green cloth, blocked in black and gold. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in August, 1874.
1875
KATERFELTO: A Story of Exmoor. By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE, author of
_Digby Grand_, _Cerise_, _Uncle John_ etc. With Illustrations by
Colonel Hope Crealocke, C.B. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1875. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5⅝ × 8⅝). Pp. (iv) + 291 + (1).
No half-title. Publishers' catalogue, 34 pp., dated November, 1874,
bound in at end. Twelve illustrations in lithograph, printed
separately. Dark red cloth, blocked in gold. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—Although dated 1875, this book was actually published
in December, 1874.
1876
SISTER LOUISE: Or THE STORY OF A WOMAN'S REPENTANCE. By G. J.
WHYTE-MELVILLE, Author of _Digby Grand_, _The Gladiators_,
_Katerfelto_. With Illustrations by Miriam Kerns. London: Chapman
and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1876. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5⅜ × 8⅝). Pp. xii +
268. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated December, 1875, bound in
at end. Eight illustrations, roughly lithographed. Green cloth,
gilt, blocked in black. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTES—(i) Although dated 1876, this book was actually
published in December, 1875.
(ii) Copies without catalogue and with yellow end-papers are
probably of a subsequent issue.
1877
ROSINE. By J. G. [_sic_] WHYTE-MELVILLE, Author of _Cerise_,
_Katerfelto_ etc. etc. With illustrations by Miriam Kerns. London:
Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly, 1877. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¾ × 8⅝).
Pp. (vi) + 266. Publishers' catalogue, 36 pp., dated December, 1876,
bound in at end. Eight illustrations. Magenta cloth, gilt, blocked
in black. Very dark green end-papers.
NOTES—(i) Although dated 1877, this book was actually
published in December, 1876.
(ii) Copies in maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in black but
without other decoration on side save a simple rectangular
frame are of later issue.
1878
RIDING RECOLLECTIONS. By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE. With Illustrations by
Edgar Giberne. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1878. 1
vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (5¼ × 7⅞). Pp. xii + 251 + (1). Publishers'
catalogue, 32 pp., dated November, 1877, bound in at end. Eight
illustrations, being photographs from drawings pasted on to thin
card. Dark brickish-red cloth, blocked in black and gold. Yellow
end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1878.
1878
ROY'S WIFE: A Novel. By G. J. WHYTE-MELVILLE. London: Chapman and
Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1878. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7⅜).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 299 + (1).
Vol. II. pp. vi + 310.
Olive-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Cream end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1878.
1879
BLACK BUT COMELY: Or THE ADVENTURES OF JANE LEE. By G. J.
WHYTE-MELVILLE. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1879. 3
vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 303 + (i).
Vol. II. pp. viii + 304.
Vol. III. pp. viii + 292 + (4). Publishers' advertisements occupy
pp. (293) to (296). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated December,
1878, bound in at end.
A four-page slip of publishers' advertisements should be found
inserted between the front end-papers of Vol. I. This slip predates
the catalogue in Vol. III. Blue-grey cloth, gilt, blocked in black.
Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in January, 1879.
[?1879 or 1880]
THE BONES AT ROTHWELL: A Lecture delivered by the late Captain WHYTE
MELVILLE, being an account of the remarkable bone cavern beneath
Rothwell Church. Price 1d. Rothwell, printed by Ed. Chamberlain, 3
Market Place. (Quotation from Gray's _Elegy_ heads title-page and
wrapper.) 1 vol. Cr. 8vo. 16 pp. White paper wrappers, printed in
black. Outside back wrapper occupied by printer's advertisements.
NOTE—This is the text of a lecture delivered by
Whyte-Melville on January 3, 1862, to the Moulton Religious
and Useful Knowledge Society, and printed in the
“Northampton Mercury” for January 11 of the same year. When
first the pamphlet above described was issued I cannot be
certain, but R. B. Wallis, in a booklet published in 1888,
and entitled _All About the Rothwell Bones_, speaks of the
lecture as obtainable in pamphlet form from Chamberlan of
Rothwell. Certainly, therefore, the publication predates
1888, and I have ventured above on the date of the year
following Whyte-Melville's death because it seems possible
that the lecture was first issued in pamphlet form to
combine the interest in the Rothwell Bones with that likely
to be created in Whyte-Melville by his decease. The
clumsiness with which Whyte-Melville is spoken of as “the
late,” but at the same time given the rank of “Captain”
instead of that of “Major,” implies a hasty reprint from the
file of the “Northampton Mercury,” by someone aware of his
death but careless of the military rank to which he finally
attained.
The colour of the paper wrapper varies with different
issues. In addition to a white copy, as above described, I
have seen one in a pale yellow cover.
ELIZABETH CLEGHORN GASKELL
1810-1865
MRS. GASKELL
_BIOGRAPHY AND CRITICAL REMINISCENCE_
MRS. GASKELL: HAUNTS, HOMES AND STORIES. By ESTHER A. CHADWICK.
London. 1910.
MRS. GASKELL. By the same. London. 1913.
MRS. GASKELL. By A. E. BAYLEY. (Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's
Reign.) London. 1897.
MRS. GASKELL AND KNUTSFORD. By G. A. PAYNE. London. 1906.
_BIBLIOGRAPHY_
Much valuable bibliographical information is contained in two little
books by Mr. John Albert Green of the Manchester Reference Library:
A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GASKELL COLLECTION IN THE MOSS-SIDE
LIBRARY. Manchester. 1911.
CATALOGUE of an Exhibition of Books and Autographs illustrating the
Life and Work of Mrs. E. C. Gaskell. Manchester. 1911.
Students may also be referred to:
GASKELL BIBLIOGRAPHY. A list of the writings of Mrs. E. C. Gaskell and
of the Rev. William Gaskell. By Wm. E. A. and Ernest Axon.
Manchester. 1895.
I.—EDITIONES PRINCIPES
FICTION, BIOGRAPHY, ETC.
1848
MARY BARTON: A Tale of Manchester Life. (Quotation from Carlyle.)
London: Chapman and Hall, 186 Strand. MDCCCXLVIII. 2 vols. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (x) [paged as viii] + 317 + (3). The place of half-title
and verso is taken by a publishers' advertisement, 2 pp., listing:
“Chapman and Hall's Series of Original Works in Fiction, Biography,
and General Literature.”
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 312.
No half-titles. Ribbed mulberry cloth, gilt, blocked in blind.
Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1848.
[1850]
LIBBIE MARSH'S THREE ERAS: A Lancashire Tale. London: Hamilton Adams
and Co. 1 vol. 16mo. Pp. 72. Paper wrappers printed with title of
story.
NOTE—This story first appeared in 1847, in Vol. I. of
“Howitt's Journal,” over the pseudonym “Cotton Mather
Mills.” It was issued by Chapman and Hall over the author's
name in 1855 as a fourpenny pamphlet of twenty-four pages.
1850
*THE SEXTON'S HERO AND CHRISTMAS STORMS AND SUNSHINE. Contributed by
the authoress of _Mary Barton_. For the benefit of the Macclesfield
Public Baths and Washhouses. Manchester: Johnson, Rawson and Co.
1850. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo. Pp. 28. Paper wrappers.
NOTE—These stories first appeared in 1847 and 1848 in Vols.
II. and III. of “Howitt's Journal,” over the pseudonym
“Cotton Mather Mills.” They were reissued under one cover by
Chapman and Hall in 1855 over the author's name.
1850
*LIZZIE LEIGH: A Domestic Tale from “Household Words.” By CHARLES
DICKENS. New York. Dewitt and Davenport. 1850. 1 vol. 12mo. Buff
paper wrappers printed in black with wording as above.
NOTE—This pamphlet was a pirated edition of a story
published anonymously in “Household Words” and rashly
assumed by the pirates to have been written by Dickens. It
made a further appearance the next year in _The Irving
Offering_ (New York, 1851), still over Dickens' name.
1850
THE MOORLAND COTTAGE. By the author of _Mary Barton_. With
illustrations by Birket Foster. London: Chapman and Hall, 193
Piccadilly. 1850. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Pp. (viii) + 182 +
(2). Advertisement of _Mary Barton_ occupies p. (183). Line-engraved
frontispiece and picture title-page precede printed title-page.
Other line-engraved illustrations here and there in the text. Maroon
cloth, full gilt, blocked in gold and blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in December, 1850.
1853
RUTH: A Novel. By the author of _Mary Barton_ (Quotation from Phineas
Fletcher.) London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1853. 3 vols.
Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (ii) + 298. Publishers' advertisements, 36 pp., dated
1853, bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 328.
Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 311 + (1).
No half-titles. Dull purple cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow
end-papers, of which those at front of Vols. I. and II. are printed
with publishers' advertisements.
NOTE—This book was published in January, 1853.
1853
CRANFORD. By the author of _Mary Barton_, _Ruth_ etc. London: Chapman
and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1853. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Pp. iv +
324. No half-title. Olive-green embossed cloth, blocked in gold and
blind. Yellow end-papers.
1854
*TWO LECTURES ON LANCASHIRE DIALECT. By the author of _Mary Barton_.
London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Paper
wrappers.
1855
LIZZIE LEIGH AND OTHER TALES. By the Author of _Mary Barton_, _Ruth_
etc. Cheap Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1855.
1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7). Pp. (viii) + 304. Yellow paper boards.
_Contents_: The Well of Pen Morfa—The Heart of John
Middleton—Disappearances—The Old Nurse's Story—Traits
and Stories of the Huguenots—Moreton Hall—My French
Master—The Squire's Story—Company Manners—Mr. Harrison's
Confessions—Libbie Marsh's Three Eras—The Sexton's
Hero—Christmas Storms and Sunshine—Hand and Heart—Bessie's
Troubles at Home.
This is the first edition of all the above stories, with the
exception of _Lizzie Leigh_, _Libbie Marsh's Three Eras_,
_The Sexton's_ _Hero_, _Christmas Storms and Sunshine_,
_Hand and Heart_, and _Bessie's Troubles at Home_.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in September, 1855. It is
a volume in Chapman and Hall's Select Library of Fiction,
published at two shillings.
(ii) It may be of interest to enthusiasts to know that
_Lizzie Leigh_ was adapted for the stage by W. R. Waldron
and published in May, 1872, as No. 1393 in Lacy's Acting
Editions of British Plays. Mrs. Gaskell must be absolved
from all responsibility for this dramatization.
1855
NORTH AND SOUTH. By the author of _Mary Barton_, _Ruth_, _Cranford_
etc. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1855. 2 vols. Ex. Cr.
8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 320. Advertisement of previous works by the
same author occupies p. (i), preceding half-title. Publishers'
advertisements, 4 pp., bound in at end.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 361 + (1). Dark brown cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1855.
1855
*HAND AND HEART and BESSIE'S TROUBLES AT HOME. By the author of _Mary
Barton_. London: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly. 1855. Fcap. 8vo
(4¼ × 6¾). Paper wrappers.
1857
THE LIFE OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË, AUTHOR OF _Jane Eyre_, _Shirley_,
_Villette_ ETC. By E. C. Gaskell, author of _Mary Barton_, _Ruth_
etc. (Quotation from _Aurora Leigh_.) London: Smith Elder and Co.,
65 Cornhill. 1857. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 8).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 352.
Vol. II. pp. viii + 327 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., dated
March, 1857, bound in at end.
Three illustrations in steel engraving—two in Vol. I., one in Vol.
II.—all printed separately. Dark brown cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1857.
1859
ROUND THE SOFA. By the author of _Mary Barton_, _Life of Charlotte
Brontë_ etc. etc. London: Sampson Low Son and Co., 47 Ludgate Hill.
1859. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅞).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 340. Publishers' advertisement slip, printed on
yellow paper, should be found inserted between the front end-papers.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 297 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 12 pp.,
printed on text paper and dated March, 1859, bound in at end.
No half-titles. Scarlet embossed cloth, gilt, blocked in blind.
Yellow end-papers.
_Contents_: Vol. I., Round the Sofa—My Lady Ludlow. Vol.
II., The Accursed Race—The Doom of the Griffiths—Half a
Life-time Ago—The Poor Clare—The Half-Brothers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in March, 1859.
(ii) It should be observed that only Vol. II. contains a
list of contents, the corresponding page (iv) in Vol. I.
being occupied by an author's note.
1860
RIGHT AT LAST: And Other Tales. By the author of _Mary Barton_, _Life
of Charlotte Brontë_, _Round the Sofa_ etc. etc. London: Sampson Low
Son and Co., 47 Ludgate Hill. 1860. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Pp. (vi) + 318. No half-title. Scarlet embossed cloth, gilt, uniform
with _Round the Sofa_. Yellow end-papers.
_Contents_: Right at Last—The Manchester Marriage—Lois the
Witch—The Crooked Branch.
NOTE—This book was published on May 10, 1860.
1861
LOIS THE WITCH AND OTHER TALES. By E. C. GASKELL, author of _Mary
Barton_, _The Life of Charlotte Brontë_. Copyright edition. Leipzig:
Bernhard Tauchnitz. 1 vol. (4½ × 6¼). Pp. (viii) + 338 + (2). Usual
Tauchnitz paper wrappers.
_Contents_: Lois the Witch, The Grey Woman, The Doom of the
Griffiths, The Half-Brothers, The Crooked Branch.
NOTE—This is a first edition of _The Grey Woman_.
1863
SYLVIA'S LOVERS. By Mrs. GASKELL, author of _The Life of Charlotte
Brontë_, _Mary Barton_, _Ruth_, _North and South_ etc. (Quotation
from Tennyson.) London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill.
MDCCCLXIII. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 310 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 294. No half-title.
Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 284 + (4). No half-title. Advertisement of _The
Life of Charlotte Brontë_ occupies pp. (285) to (288).
Magenta cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Greenish-buff end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in March, 1863.
1863
A DARK NIGHT'S WORK. By Mrs. GASKELL, author of _Sylvia's Lovers_,
_Life of Charlotte Brontë_, _Mary Barton_, _Ruth_ etc. etc. London:
Smith Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. MDCCCLXIII. 1 vol. Slim Cr. 8vo
(4½ × 7⅝). Pp. (iv) + 299 + (1). Brown cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind. Cream end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in May, 1863.
1865
THE GREY WOMAN: And Other Tales. By Mrs. GASKELL, Author of _Mary
Barton_, _North and South_, _Sylvia's Lovers_, _Cousin Phillis_,
_Cranford_ etc. Illustrated Edition. London: Smith, Elder and Co.,
65 Cornhill. MDCCCLXV. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp. (iv) + 280. No
half-title. Wood-engraved frontispiece and picture title-page
precede printed title. Two illustrations in course of the text, wood
engraved and printed separately. Red embossed cloth, gilt, blocked
in blind. Yellow end-papers.
_Contents_: The Grey Woman—Curious if True—Six Weeks
at Heppenheim—Libbie Marsh's Three Eras—Christmas
Storms and Sunshine—Hand and Heart—Bessie's Troubles
at Home—Disappearances.
NOTE—This book was published in October, 1865. It is a first
edition of _Curious if True_ and _Six Weeks at Heppenheim_.
1865
COUSIN PHILLIS: And Other Tales. By Mrs. GASKELL, author of _Mary
Barton_, _North and South_, _Sylvia's Lovers_, _Cranford_ etc.
London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. MDCCCLXV. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo
(5 × 7½). Pp. (iv) + 286 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy
pp. (287) and (288). No half-title. Wood-engraved frontispiece and
picture title-page, printed separately, precede printed title. Two
illustrations in the course of the text, wood engraved and printed
separately. Red embossed cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Uniform
with _The Grey Woman_. Cream end-papers.
_Contents_: Cousin Phillis—Company Manners—Mr. Harrison's
Confessions—The Sexton's Hero.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in December, 1865.
(ii) It is a first edition of _Cousin Phillis_, which story
appeared serially in the “Cornhill.”
1866
WIVES AND DAUGHTERS: An Everyday Story. By Mrs. GASKELL. With 18
illustrations by George du Maurier. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65
Cornhill. 1866. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8⅝).
Vol. I. pp. (iv) + 336.
Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 332.
No half-titles. Ten illustrations in Vol. I. and eight in Vol. II.,
all wood engraved and printed separately. Maroon cloth, blocked in
gold. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in February, 1866. The story
appeared serially in the “Cornhill.”
_NOTE_
The Knutsford edition of Mrs. Gaskell's works (Smith, Elder and Co.,
1906, 8 vols.), edited by A. W. Ward, contained in Vols. I., III., VI.,
and VII. material not previously issued in book form. Further additional
matter (notably a chapter of _Cranford_) was published by Clement
Shorter in the edition of Mrs. Gaskell's works edited by him for The
World's Classics. The same authority published an edition of _The Life
of Charlotte Brontë_ in 1900 (Smith, Elder) with many valuable notes. He
has also issued a privately printed edition of Mrs. Gaskell's Letters on
Charlotte Brontë, but this booklet, in accordance with the plan of the
present volume, is not herein specifically listed. Full details of the
various appearances of Gaskell miscellanea (with the exception of that
last mentioned above) will be found in J. A. Green's Bibliographical
Guide to the Gaskell Collection, referred to on p. 203.
II.—BOOKS PARTIALLY WRITTEN, ATTRIBUTED TO, OR EDITED BY MRS GASKELL.
1840
VISITS TO REMARKABLE PLACES: Old Halls, Battle Fields, and Scenes
illustrative of striking passages in English History and Poetry. By
WILLIAM HOWITT, author of _The Rural Life of England_, _Boy's
Country-Book_ etc. Illustrated by Samuel Williams. London: Longman,
Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans. MDCCCXL. 1 vol. Med. 8vo (5¾ × 9).
Pp. vii + (i) + 526. No half-title. Wood-engraved vignette on
title-page and numerous other illustrations. Pp. 130 to 146 are
occupied by an account of Clopton Hall, written by Mrs. Gaskell.
Fawn cloth, blocked in gold.
1853
*THE SICKNESS AND HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE OF BLAEBURN. By the author of
_Mary Barton_. Boston. 1853. 1 vol. 12mo. Paper wrappers.
NOTE—This is a reprint (unauthorized) of a story that
appeared anonymously in Vol. I. of “Household Words.” The
attribution to Mrs. Gaskell is a mistake, Harriet Martineau
being the real author of the tale.
1857
MABEL VAUGHAN. By the author of The _Lamplighter_. Edited, by
arrangement with the author, by Mrs. GASKELL, author of _Mary
Barton_. London: Sampson Low, Son and Co., 47 Ludgate Hill. 1857. 1
vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Pp. viii + 459 + (1). Publishers'
catalogue, 12 pp., paged but undated, bound in at end. Line-engraved
frontispiece, printed separately. Dark green cloth, blocked in gold
and blind. Pale yellow end-papers. Also issued simultaneously in
boards.
NOTE—This book was published in September, 1857.
1862
GARIBALDI AT CAPRERA. By COLONEL VECCHI. Translated from the Italian.
With Preface by Mrs. GASKELL. Cambridge: Macmillan and Co., and 23
Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. London. 1862. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼
× 6⅝). Pp. xi + (i) + 130 + (2). Publishers' advertisement occupies
p. (131). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., undated, bound in at end.
Frontispiece in tinted lithograph, showing Garibaldi's house.
Scarlet cloth, blocked in gold. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in February or March, 1862.
HERMAN MELVILLE
1819-1891
HERMAN MELVILLE
At intervals during the last forty years, Herman Melville has been
discovered by intellectuals, belauded, a little read, and once more
forgotten. It is typical of the man and of his perverse withdrawal from
the lettered world, that even before his death he was the subject of
spasmodic battues by appreciative readers, who sought to startle into
activity their idol's reputation by methods suited to the enlivenment of
an author long dead and hidden by the undergrowth of time.
The latest and the most thorough stimulation to which the repute of
Melville has been subjected is now at full stretch. Whatever its
critical shortcomings, this concerted attempt to write a new name on the
roll of nineteenth-century genius bids fair to achieve one important
triumph—the immortalization of _Moby Dick_ and, consequentially, of the
man who wrote it.
A very minor result of the same Melville boom is his inclusion in this
book. Save in the matter of date, he has little in common with the other
writers here treated. They are of Victorianism Victorian; he, if he
belongs to any period or to any genealogy, is of the ageless, race-less
family of the lonely giants. That his fellows between these covers are
all lesser novelists than he, I am unprepared to admit. Trollope excels
him in humour, wisdom and depth of understanding; he must rank, as
master of technique, below all save Whyte-Melville and perhaps Disraeli.
But he has a quality of grandeur, a majesty of isolation that they lack,
and his very inchoate bitterness of spirit transcends by its
datelessness their well-rounded friendliness and their complacent wit.
If that were not enough, he differs from them also in the very texture
and subject of his work. His mysticism, for all its yearning and its
gloom, is of a spiritual quality far rarer than that of their
materialism, for all its vivacity and its aspiration. Between him and
Reade is a certain soul resemblance, but the advantage in this is
Melville's. He directly influenced the Englishman,[4] and beside his
remote immensity Reade, even at his most massive and his most
contentious, seems but a dwarf, roaring disgruntlement against the walls
of Grub Street.
Footnote 4:
There is in existence the copy of _Moby Dick_ in which Reade made
extensive notes and excisions, maybe with the idea of issuing an
abbreviated version. Readers of _Love Me Little, Love Me Long_ will
immediately detect the influence of Melville's great book on the
whaling narrative related by Frank Dodd to Mr. Fountain and to his
lovely niece.
Melville's books are the strange mirror of a strange life. The young
writer, famous at thirty, who yet lives out a diminuendo of appreciation
to an old age of disappointed poverty, is no unfamiliar figure. One
thinks immediately of William Harrison Ainsworth, from the foppish
eminence of his early twenties to the last sad years in a Tonbridge
villa, when he laboured at the regular production of three-volume
fiction—one novel a year at seventy-five pounds the time—alone amid the
memories of vanished splendour. But the man who as a youth wins
reputation in letters and passes, of deliberate purpose, maturity and
age in other, non-literary, pursuits is a scarcer type, of which
Melville is an unusual example.
Born in 1819, he published _Typee_ at the age of twenty-seven, _Moby
Dick_ five years later, and _The Piazza Tales_ in 1856. From then until
his death, in 1891, he wrote little, and, to the even greater detriment
of his fame, withdrew entirely from the society of writers, hiding his
name and his very existence behind the screen of an obstinate reserve.
I have no intention here either of summarizing the life or of passing
judgment on the works of Herman Melville. The former is related in
detail by Professor Raymond Weaver, whose large biography is of so
recent date that any shorter presentment of the facts must merely be a
précis of the information therein contained. The respective merits of
the outstanding books are already (and will remain for long enough) the
sport of literary publicists, to whose views and counter-views I refer
the curious. One feature, nevertheless, of contemporary opinion
challenges to protest my amateur temerity. Apart from _Moby Dick_, the
neo-Melvillian has little beyond patronizing approval for the books of
his hero; _Typee_ (1846) and _Omoo_ (1847) are interesting records of
travel, remarkable mainly for the early date of their appearance and as
forerunners of the South Sea School in letters and in painting. _Mardi_
(1849), _Redburn_ (1849), and _White Jacket_ (1850) claim respect as
autobiography and for passages that reveal their author's genius
struggling toward a more complete expression. These are the rising steps
to the crowning summit of Melville's work. There, unique and peerless,
stands _Moby Dick_; beyond it the terraces fall away again, and even
more steeply than they rose.
Is this opinion a just one? I am a little uncertain. With no desire to
denigrate _Moby Dick_ or to deny it the first place in _importance_
among Melville's books, I would venture that his genius is more
perfectly and skilfully revealed in a volume of stories belonging to the
so-called decadence. _The Piazza Tales_ are liable to be dismissed by
the critic of to-day with kindly condescension as “the best of the later
work,” a judgment as misleading as it is easily explained. In some
degree the worship of _Moby Dick_ and the comparative neglect of the
other work are inevitable corollaries to the Melville boom at its
present stage. During the first period of any new æsthetic wonder, the
peculiar transcends the normal in the imagination of disciples. Let the
case of Melville be paralleled with that of Tintoretto's pupil, Greco.
When first set in the revival of interest in this painter's work, he was
most admired when most bizarre. He won favour for the contrast he
presented to his immediate forerunners and his contemporaries. The name
of Greco stood for certain mannerisms in colour and composition, and,
the more a Greco picture revealed those mannerisms, the better a Greco
it was judged to be. Already, from the hand of time, this formula of
appreciation is suffering adjustment, but Melville is to-day precisely
at the point where yesterday Greco stood. Like the master of Toledo, he
has peculiar and noticeable tricks of matter and of style. Because _Moby
Dick_ is of these tricks more redolent than the author's other books, it
tickles the palate of contemporary enthusiasm more thoroughly than do
they.
Such preference is by its very nature tenacious. _Moby Dick_, for all
that it is unmistakably Melville, is far from flawless. What if Melville
recognized its weaknesses? What if he deplored those very
characteristics that are to-day lauded as his priceless individuality
and chief claim to fame? With all its vastness and its wonder, the epic
story of Ahab and the great white whale displays the faults of its
author as strikingly as it reveals his talents. In years to come, when
the glamour of oddity has paled a little, it will be admitted that the
book labours under a sad weight of intolerable prolixity. Nor is this
prolixity implicit in the greatness of Melville's writing. This is
proved by the two chief stories in _The Piazza Tales_. _Benito Cereno_
and _The Encatadas_ hold in the small compass of their beauty the
essence of their author's supreme artistry. They are profound and lovely
and tenderly robust, but they are never tedious and never wilful. Surely
it were generous to admit that Melville sought to improve on _Moby Dick_
and that, in the matter of technical control, he succeeded? These two
stories cannot as literary achievement compare with their vast and
teeming predecessor. That is natural. But they may not be ignored as the
last glimmer of a dying lamp. They mark the highest technical level of
their author's work, and, had not within a year or two of their
appearance the darkness of self-distrust descended on him, might well
have proved a revelation of something yet to come from the brain of
Herman Melville, something destined—but for the treacherous inhibition
of human frailty—to excel in power everything to which that brain had
previously given birth.
_BIOGRAPHY_
HERMAN MELVILLE, MARINER AND MYSTIC. By RAYMOND M. WEAVER. New York.
Doran. 1921. London: Humphrey Milford. 1922.
This long and careful book is based on the papers and information of
the Melville family and represents the sum of present-day knowledge
of Melville's life and ideas.
_NOTE_
Collectors should observe the fact that it was the custom of American
publishers in the fifties and sixties to bind one edition in cloths of
various colours for the purposes of window display. Consequently
Melville's first American editions are met with in a variety of
colourings which, in the matter of date of issue, rank equally.
I.—EDITIONES PRINCIPES
FICTION, POETRY, TRAVEL
1846
*TYPEE: A Peep at Polynesian Life during a Four Months Residence in A
Valley of the Marquesas with notices of the French Occupation of
Tahiti and the Provisional Cession of the Sandwich Islands to Lord
Paulet. By HERMAN MELVILLE. Part One. (Part Two.) New York. Wiley
and Putnam, London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1846. 2 vols. Sm.
Cr. 8vo (5 × 7¼).
Vol. I. pp.[5] Vol. II. pp.[5]
Footnote 5:
That the pagination of these volumes must be omitted is a
misfortune that was unpreventable. A detailed description of the
books was sent me from America, but the slip on which the actual
pagination was set out did not arrive.
The half-titles to both volumes read: Wiley and Putnam's Library of
American Books: Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life. On the verso of
half-title to Vol. I. is a list of books of travel; on that to Vol.
II. the titles in the Library of American Books. Vol. I. contains a
map. Dark green cloth, gilt. Fawn end-papers.
1846
NARRATIVE OF A FOUR MONTHS RESIDENCE AMONG THE NATIVES OF A VALLEY OF
THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS: Or A PEEP AT POLYNESIAN LIFE. By HERMAN
MELVILLE. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1846. 1 vol. Sm.
Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7). Pp. xvi + (ii) + 285 + (1). Publisher's
advertisements, 16 pp., dated March, 1846, bound in at end. A sketch
map of the Marquesas Islands on page (xviii) faces page (1). Red
cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. White end-papers.
NOTE—A volume in Murray's “Colonial and Home Library” (No.
15). Subsequently named _Typee_. The lettering on the spine
reads: Colonial and Home Library Vol XV Melvilles Marquesas
Islands Murray.
1847
*TYPEE: A Peep at Polynesian Life during a Four Months Residence in A
Valley of the Marquesas. Revised Edition with a Sequel. By HERMAN
MELVILLE. New York: Wiley and Putnam. London: John Murray, Albemarle
Street. 1847. 1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7¼). Pp[6]. Of this book pp.
291-307 are occupied by the sequel to _Typee_ entitled _The Story of
Toby_, and not previously published. Map faces title-page.
Footnote 6:
See footnote to previous page.
1847
TYPEE: Or A NARRATIVE OF A FOUR MONTHS RESIDENCE AMONG THE NATIVES OF
A VALLEY OF THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS: Or A PEEP AT POLYNESIAN LIFE. By
HERMAN MELVILLE. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1847. 1 vol.
Sm. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7). Pp. xvi + 301 + (1). Pp. 287-301 are occupied
by _The Story of Toby_, a sequel to _Typee_ not previously
published. Publisher's advertisement precedes half-title proper,
occupying reverse of a series half-title of “The Home and Colonial
(_sic_) Library,” these two pages being inset on other than text
paper. Publisher's catalogue, Fcap. 8vo, 16 pp., dated March, 1847,
bound in at end. Red cloth, gilt, uniform with preceding item.
Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—The lettering on the spine is identical with that of
the 1846 issue.
1847
OMOO: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas. By HERMAN MELVILLE,
author of _Typee_. New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers.
London: John Murray. 1847. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜). Pp. (408). The
pagination of this volume is very confusing. Pp. (1)-(16) are paged
xv + (i). Pp. 17-389 are so paged, p. (390) is unpaged, pp.
(391)-(399) are paged (xv) to xxiii, p. (400) is unpaged, and pp.
(401)-(408) are paged (1) to 8. Title-page printed in red and black,
half-title in red. Line-engraved map printed separately facing
title. Blue cloth, blocked in gold and blind. White end-papers.
NOTE—As an example of the varieties to be met with among
American publications of this date, I append a collation of
this same book, made by a friend from a copy seen in the
United States. The variation of binding and end-papers is
unimportant (see note on p. 220).
1847
*OMOO: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas. By HERMAN
MELVILLE, author of _Typee_. New York: Harper and Brothers,
Publishers. London: John Murray, 1847. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜). Pp.
398, of which (1)-(9) are unpaged, (10)-(17) are paged in roman
numerals, 18-389 in arabic numerals, while pp. (390)-(398) are
occupied by publishers' advertisements. Publishers' catalogue, 16
pp., bound in at end. Title-page printed in red and black,
half-title in red. Line-engraved map facing title-page. Brown cloth,
blocked in gold. Marbled end-papers.
1847
OMOO: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas, being a sequel to
the _Residence in the Marquesas Islands_. By HERMAN MELVILLE, author
of _Typee_. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1847. 1 vol. Sm.
Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7). Pp. xiii + (i) + 321 +(1). Line-engraved map
printed on text paper facing title-page. Red cloth, gilt, uniform
with preceding item. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) The lettering on the spine reads: Adventures in
the South Seas Murray.
(ii) A volume in Murray's “Colonial and Home Library” (No.
22). The Preface is dated New York, January 28, 1847.
(iii) Contemporary announcements of Murray's “Colonial and
Home Library” speak of an issue of this book in _two parts_,
“_sewed_,” and numbered respectively 43 and 44 of the
series. I have never seen such wrappered issues, but, to
judge by their numbering in the Library, they postdate the
edition above described.
1849
MARDI AND A VOYAGE THITHER. By HERMAN MELVILLE, author of _Typee_ and
_Omoo_. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1849. 3
vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. x + 336 + (2).
Vol. II. pp. x + 335 + (3).
Vol. III. pp. viii + 348.
Titles printed in two colours. Pale apple-green cloth, gilt, blocked
in blind. Blue and white decorated end-papers, printed with
publisher's advertisements.
NOTE—This book was published on March 16, 1849. The English
edition predates the American one. 1,000 copies were
printed.
1849
MARDI: AND A VOYAGE THITHER. By HERMAN MELVILLE. New York: Harper and
Bros. Publishers, 82 Cliff Street. 1849. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ ×
7⅜).
Vol. 1. pp. (376). The paging is very irregular. Pp. (1) to (6) are
blank and unpaged; p. (7) is title-page; p. (8) bears note of the
book's official registration; p. (9) bears dedication; p. (10) is
blank; p. (11) bears preface dated New York, January, 1849; p. (12)
is blank; p. (13) is half-title; p. (14) is blank; pp. (15) to (18)
are occupied by List of Contents paged (ix) to xii; pp. (19) to
(371) are paged (13) to 365; pp. (372) to (376) are blank and
unpaged. Pp. (1) (2) and (375) (376) are pasted down to front and
back inside end-papers.
Vol. II. pp. (408), of which pp. (1)-(6) are blank and unpaged; p.
(7) is title-page; p. (8) bears note of the book's official
registration; p. (9) is half-title; p. (10) is blank; pp. (11)-(14)
are occupied by List of Contents paged (ix) to xii; pp. (15) to
(393) are paged (9) to 387; p. (394) is blank and unpaged; pp.
(395)-(402) are occupied by publishers' advertisements paged (1) to
8; pp. (403)-(408) are blank and unpaged. Pp. (1) (2) and (407)
(408) are pasted down to front and back inside end-papers.
It should be noted that in each volume the printed half-title
follows the title-page.
Dark green cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Yellow end-papers.
1849
REDBURN: HIS FIRST VOYAGE. Being the Sailor boy confessions and
reminiscences of the son of a gentleman in the Merchant Service. By
HERMAN MELVILLE. Author of _Typee_, _Mardi_ etc. London: Richard
Bentley, New Burlington Street, 1849. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 316. No half-title.
Vol II. pp. viii + 314.
Dark blue cloth, gilt, blocked in blind, white end-papers patterned
in blue and printed with publisher's advertisements.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on September 29, 1849. The
English edition predates the American one. 750 copies were
printed.
(ii) I have seen a copy of this edition bearing on the case
the name of T. C. Newby as publisher, but with the Bentley
title-page. This was probably a “remainder” copy, for Newby
frequently bought sheets of books that had not sold when
originally published, and issued them at a cheaper price
wholly or partially over his imprint.
1849
REDBURN: HIS FIRST VOYAGE. Being the sailor boy confessions and
reminiscences of the son of a gentleman in the Merchant Service. By
HERMAN MELVILLE, Author of _Typee_, _Mardi_. New York: Harper and
Bros., Publishers, 82 Cliff Street. 1849. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7½).
Pp. (420). The numbering of pages is very erratic. Pp. (1)-(6) are
blank and unpaged; p. (7) is title-page; p. (8) bears note of the
book's official registration; p. (9) bears dedication; p. (10) is
blank; pp. (11)-(17) are occupied by List of Contents paged (v)-xi;
p. (12) is blank; pp. (13) to 390 are so paged; pp. (391)-(394) are
unpaged and occupied by advertisements of other works by Melville;
pp. (395)-(406) form a publishers' list, dated October, 1849, and
paged (1) to 14; pp. (407) and (408) are occupied by publishers'
advertisements, undated, but paged (1) and 2; pp. (409)-(412) are
blank; pp. (413) and (414) are pasted down to inside back end-paper.
No printed half-title. Purple-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind.
Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—Copies of the first edition are found with fewer
advertisement pages at the end. These may well, in view of
the irregular nature of American bookmaking at that period,
be contemporary in issue with those more extensively
furnished, but the collector will naturally prefer a copy as
complete as possible.
1850
WHITE JACKET: Or THE WORLD IN A MAN OF WAR. By HERMAN MELVILLE.
London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, 1850. 2 vols. Ex.
Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. vi + 322.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 315 + (1).
No half-titles. Pale blue cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow
end-papers, printed with publisher's advertisements.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on January 23, 1850. The
English edition predates the American one. 1,000 copies were
printed.
(ii) Vol. I. pp. iii and iv contain a preface dated October,
1849, and different in content from the note on p. iv of the
American edition, dated March, 1850.
1850
WHITE JACKET: Or THE WORLD IN A MAN OF WAR. By HERMAN MELVILLE. Author
of _Typee_, _Omoo_, _Mardi_ and _Redburn_. New York: Harper and
Bros., Publishers, 82 Cliff Street. London: Richard Bentley. 1850. 1
vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7½). Pp. (484). Here again the paging is
irregular. Of the preliminary matter pp. (1)-(6) are blank; p. (7)
is title-page; p. (8) bears note of the book's official
registration; p. (9) bears quotation from Fuller's _Good
Sea-Captain_; p. (10) bears author's note, dated New York, March,
1850; pp. (11)-(13) are occupied by List of Contents and are paged
in roman numerals, (v) to vii; p. (14) is blank; pp. (15) to (471)
are paged (9) to 465; p. (472) is blank; pp. (473)-(476) are unpaged
and occupied by advertisements of other works by Melville; pp. (477)
(478) are also unpaged and occupied by publishers' advertisements;
pp. (479)-(484) are blank and unpaged. No printed half-title. Dark
brown or blue-grey cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—The varieties of binding are of simultaneous date.
1851
THE WHALE. By HERMAN MELVILLE, author of _Typee_, _Omoo_, _Redburn_,
_Mardi_, _White Jacket_. (Quotation from _Paradise Lost_.) London:
Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1851. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo
(4¾ × 7¾).
Vol. I. pp. viii + 312.
Vol. II. pp. iv + 303 + (1).
Vol. III. pp. iv + 328.
Quarter cream cloth blocked in gold; bright blue embossed cloth
sides, blocked in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published on October 18, 1851. The
English edition predates the American one. 500 copies were
printed.
(ii) Vol. I. only has half-title, on which the story is
described as _The Whale or Moby Dick_.
1851
MOBY DICK: Or THE WHALE. By HERMAN MELVILLE, Author of _Typee_,
_Omoo_, _Redburn_, _Mardi_, _White-Jacket_. New York: Harper and
Bros. Publishers. London: Richard Bentley. 1851. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞
× 7⅜). Pp. (xxx) [paged as xxiii + (i)] + 634 + (12). Epilogue
occupies p. (635). Publishers' advertisements, 6 pp., occupy pp.
(637)-(642). Pp. (i) (ii) and (647) (648) are pasted down to front
and back inside end-papers. No printed half-title. Slate-blue or
scarlet cloth, gilt. Orange end-papers.
NOTES—(i) The varieties of binding are of simultaneous date.
(ii) This book was expurgated for publication in England,
the American text containing thirty-five passages not
included in Bentley's edition (see previous item).
1852
PIERRE: Or THE AMBIGUITIES. By HERMAN MELVILLE. New York: Harper and
Bros., Publishers, 329 and 331 Pearl Street, Franklin Square. 1852.
1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜). Pp. (xii) [paged as viii] + 495 + (6). Pp.
(i) (ii) and (501) (502) are pasted down to front and back inside
end-papers. No printed half-title. Dark grey cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind. Dark grey end-papers.
1852
PIERRE: Or THE AMBIGUITIES. By HERMAN MELVILLE. London: Sampson Low
Son and Co., 47 Ludgate Hill. 1852. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½). Pp.
viii + 495 + (i). No half-title. Blue embossed cloth, gilt, blocked
in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in November, 1852.
(ii) This English edition consists of American printed
sheets with cancel title. It is as scarce as, if not scarcer
than, the American edition, the bulk of which was destroyed
by fire.
1855
ISRAEL POTTER: HIS FIFTY YEARS OF EXILE. By HERMAN MELVILLE. Author of
_Typee_, _Omoo_ etc. New York: G. P. Putnam and Co., 10 Park Place.
1855. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7⅜). Pp. (280) [paged as (2) + 276 +
(2)]. No printed half-title. Purple-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in
blind. Yellow end-papers.
NOTE—On the case, this book is entitled “Fifty Years Exile.”
A pirated edition, under the title _The Refugee_, was
published in Philadelphia in [1865].
1855
ISRAEL POTTER: HIS FIFTY YEARS OF EXILE. By HERMAN MELVILLE, author of
_Typee_, _Omoo_ etc. London: G. Routledge and Co., Farringdon
Street. 1855. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4 × 6½). Pp. 174. Bright yellow
paper wrappers printed in black. The outside back wrapper is
occupied by publishers' advertisements. Also issued simultaneously
in cloth.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1855.
1856
THE PIAZZA TALES. By HERMAN MELVILLE, author of _Typee_, _Omoo_, etc.
etc. New York: Dix and Edwards, 321 Broadway. London: Sampson Low,
Son and Co. 1856. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7⅛). Pp. (vi) + 431 + (11).
No printed half-title. Publishers' advertisements, unpaged and
undated, occupy pp. (433)-(439). Purple-brown cloth, blocked in gold
and blind. Grey-blue end-papers.
_Contents_: The Piazza—Bartleby—Benito Cereno—The
Lightning-Rod Man—The Encantadas; or Enchanted Islands—The
Bell-Tower.
NOTES—(i) This book was published in May or June, 1856.
(ii) It is doubtful whether copies of this book were ever
actually issued in England, despite the fact that Sampson
Low and Co. advertised the book at 9s. in June, 1856. At the
most, copies may exist with an English cancel title, but
even this is improbable in view of the joint imprint on the
New York edition. It will be noted that when previously Low
imported Melville sheets (_cf._ _Pierre_, 1852) they
inserted their own title-page and bound the book differently
for English issue, but in that case their name was not
printed on the American edition.
(iii) Copies of the first American edition exist, with pale
yellow end-papers. These are thinner in quality than the
grey-blue ones above mentioned, and not chalk surfaced to
the extent usual with American tinted papers of the period.
Indeed, they have more the appearance of English than of
American end-papers, but it is difficult to believe that
Sampson Low and Co. could have imported sheets and cases
from America, merely carrying out in this country the
process of binding.
1857
THE CONFIDENCE MAN: HIS MASQUERADE. By HERMAN MELVILLE, Author of _The
Piazza Tales_, _Omoo_ etc. etc. New York: Dix Edwards and Co., 321
Broadway. 1857. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4⅞ × 7½). Pp. (x) [paged as vi] +
394 + (4). No printed half-title. Purple-brown cloth, gilt, blocked
in blind. Dark green end-papers.
1857
THE CONFIDENCE MAN: HIS MASQUERADE. By HERMAN MELVILLE, author of _The
Piazza Tales_, _Omoo_, _Typee_ etc. etc. Authorized edition. London:
Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans and Roberts. 1857. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo
(4¼ × 6¾). Pp. vi + 354. No half-title. Publishers' catalogue, 24
pp., dated September, 1855 [_sic_], bound in at end. Yellow-brown
cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Brick-red end-papers, partially
printed with publishers' advertisements.
NOTE—This book was published in April, 1857.
1866
BATTLEPIECES AND ASPECTS OF THE WAR. By HERMAN MELVILLE. New York:
Harper and Bros., Publishers, Franklin Square. 1866. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo
(4¾ × 7⅜). Pp. (298), of which pp. (i)-(6) are blank and unpaged; p.
(7) is title-page; p. (8) bears note of the book's official
registration; p. (9) bears dedication; p. (10) is blank; p. (11)
bears Author's Note; p. (12) is blank; pp. (13)-(16) are occupied by
List of Contents paged (vii)-x; pp. (17) to (278) are paged (11) to
272; pp. (279)-(284) are blank and unpaged. No printed half-title.
Brown or violet cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—There was no English edition of this book.
1876
CLAREL: A Poem and a Pilgrimage in the Holy Land. By HERMAN MELVILLE.
In four parts. I. Jerusalem. II. The Wilderness. III. Mar Saba. IV.
Bethlehem. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, No. 182 Fifth Avenue,
1876. 2 vols. Sq. 16mo (6⅞ × 5⅛).
Vol. I. pp. (304), of which pp. (8) and (9) are paged ii and iii,
pp. (10) and (11) unpaged, and pp. (12)-(304) are paged 8 to 300.
Vol. II. pp. (312). In this volume the paging is even more erratic;
pp. (i)-(5) are unnumbered, p. (6) is numbered iv, pp. (7), (8), and
(9) are unnumbered, pp. (10) to (309) are numbered 304 to 571, pp.
(310) to (312) are unnumbered.
Bright green cloth, gilt. Chocolate end-papers.
NOTE—This book was published in July, 1876. There was no
English edition.
1888
JOHN MARR AND OTHER SAILORS, WITH SOME SEA PIECES. New York: De Vinne
Press. 1888. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4½ × 6¾). Pp. (iv) + 103 + (1). Cream
paper wrappers printed in black.
NOTE—Only twenty-five copies of this edition were printed.
1891
*TIMOLEON etc. New York: Canton Press. 1891. 1 vol. (4½ × 7). Pp.
(72), of which (1)-(5) are unnumbered, (6) is paged in roman
numerals, pp. 7-70 in arabic numerals, and (71) and (72) unnumbered.
Buff paper wrappers, printed in black.
NOTE—Only twenty-five copies of this edition were printed.
II.—BOOKS PARTIALLY WRITTEN
BY HERMAN MELVILLE
There are only two items that it is possible to list under this heading,
and to each one of them Melville's contribution is so slight as to make
unnecessary their detailed collation. P. 30 of the _Memorial to James
Fenimore Cooper_, published in one volume by Putnam, New York, in 1852,
bears a letter from Melville in praise of Cooper addressed to the
Committee organizing the Cooper celebration. Pp. 399 and 400 of _The
History of Pittsfield, Massachusetts from 1800 to 1876_, by J. E. A.
Smith, and published in Springfield by C. W. Bryan and Co., 1876, bear
an account of Major Thomas Melville written by Herman Melville, but not
nominally attributed to him.
INDEX OF BOOK-TITLES
AFTER DARK (Collins), 130, 139
AMERICAN SENATOR, The (Trollope), 33, 64
ANGELO (Reade), _Play_, 170
ANTONINA (Collins), 136
ARAB'S RIDE TO CAIRO, The (Whyte-Melville), 191
ARMADALE (Collins), _Novel_, 131, 142
ARMADALE (Collins), _Play_, 152
ART (Reade), _Play_, 178
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (Trollope), 60
AUTOBIOGRAPHY, An (Trollope), 71
AYALA'S ANGEL (Trollope), 33, 68
BARCHESTER TOWERS (Trollope), 22, 39
BASIL (Collins), 134, 138
BATTLEPIECES AND ASPECTS OF THE WAR (Herman Melville), 232
BELTON ESTATE, The (Trollope), 31, 33, 49
BERTRAMS, The (Trollope), 28, 29, 40
BESSIE'S TROUBLES AT HOME (Gaskell), 207, 210
BIBLE CHARACTERS (Reade), 169
BLACK AND WHITE (Collins), _Play_, 153
BLACK BUT COMELY (Whyte-Melville), 187, 199
BLACK ROBE, The (Collins), 132, 133, 148
BLIND LOVE (Collins), 132, 151
BONES AND I (Whyte-Melville), 195
BONES AT ROTHWELL, The (Whyte-Melville), 200
BOX TUNNEL, The (Reade), 162
BRITISH SPORTS AND PASTIMES (Trollope), 72
BROOKES OF BRIDLEMERE, The (Whyte-Melville), 187, 194
CAN YOU FORGIVE HER? (Trollope), 23, 24, 28, 29, 45
CASTLE RICHMOND (Trollope), 26, 28, 41
CERISE (Whyte-Melville), 187, 194
CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST, The (Marryat), 80, 95
CHRISTIE JOHNSTONE (Reade), _Novel_, 160
CHRISTIE JOHNSTONE (Reade), _Play_, 178
CHRISTMAS STORMS AND SUNSHINE (Gaskell), 204, 206, 210
CLAREL (Herman Melville), 232
CLAVERINGS, The (Trollope), 28, 31, 32, 52
CLERGYMEN OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND (Trollope), 49
CLOISTER AND THE HEARTH, The (Reade), 163
CODE OF SIGNALS FOR THE USE OF VESSELS EMPLOYED IN THE MERCHANT
SERVICE, A (Marryat), 82
COMMENTARIES OF CÆSAR, The (Trollope), 57
CONFIDENCE MAN, The (Herman Melville), 231, 232
CONINGSBY (Disraeli), 110, 111, 119
CONSIDERATIONS ON THE COPYRIGHT QUESTION (Collins), 147
CONTARINI FLEMING (Disraeli), 107, 108, 109, 115
CONTRABAND (Whyte-Melville), 187, 196
COUNTESS AND THE DANCER, The (Reade), _Play_, 177
COURIER OF LYONS, The (Reade), _Play_, 171
COURSE OF TRUE LOVE NEVER DID RUN SMOOTH, The (Reade), 161
COUSIN HENRY (Trollope), 33, 66
COUSIN PHILLIS (Gaskell), 210
CRANFORD (Gaskell), 206
CREAM (Reade), 162
CRISIS EXAMINED, The (Disraeli), 117
DANGEROUS PATH, The (Reade), _Play_, 178
DARK NIGHT'S WORK (Gaskell), 209
DEAD SECRET, The (Collins), 130, 139
DIARY IN AMERICA, A (Marryat). Part 1, 89; part 2, 90
DIARY OF A BLASÉ, The (Marryat), 88
DID HE STEAL IT? (Trollope), _Play_, 55
DIGBY GRAND (Whyte-Melville), 186, 189
DOCTOR THORNE (Trollope), 22, 40
DOCTOR WORTLE'S SCHOOL (Trollope), 33, 67
DORA (Reade), _Play_, 173
DOUBLE MARRIAGE, The (Reade), _Play_, 174
DREAM WOMAN, The (Collins), _Play_, 154
DRINK (Reade), _Play_, 179
DUKE'S CHILDREN, The (Trollope), 23, 25, 26, 67
EDITOR'S TALES, An (Trollope), 56
EIGHTH COMMANDMENT, The (Reade), 162
ENDYMION (Disraeli), 107, 108, 122
ENGLAND AND FRANCE (Disraeli), 115
ENQUIRY INTO THE PLANS, PROGRESS AND POLICY OF AMERICAN MINING
COMPANIES, An (Disraeli), 113
EUSTACE DIAMONDS, The (Trollope), 23, 24, 60
EVIL GENIUS, The (Collins), 132, 149
EYE FOR AN EYE, An (Trollope), 33, 34, 65
FALLEN LEAVES, The (Collins), 132, 133, 147
FIRST PRINTER, The (Reade), _Play_, 178
FIXED PERIOD, The (Trollope), 34, 70
FLORAL TELEGRAPH, The (Marryat), 98
FOUL PLAY (Reade), _Novel_, 164
FOUL PLAY (Reade), _Play_, 176
FRAMLEY PARSONAGE (Trollope), 22, 41
FREE LABOUR (Reade), _Play_, 178
FROZEN DEEP, The (Collins), _Story_, 144
FROZEN DEEP, The (Collins), _Play_, 153
GARIBALDI AT CAPRERA (Gaskell), 213
GENERAL BOUNCE (Whyte-Melville), 186, 187, 190
GLADIATORS, The (Whyte-Melville), 187, 193
GOLD (Reade), _Play_, 170
GOLDEN CROWNS (Reade), 166
GOLDEN LION OF GRANPERE, The (Trollope), 34, 59
GOOD FIGHT, A (Reade), 169
GOOD FOR NOTHING (Whyte-Melville), 187, 192
GOOD STORIES OF MAN AND OTHER ANIMALS (Reade), 167
GREY WOMAN, The (Gaskell), 209, 210
GRIFFITH GAUNT (Reade), _Novel_, 163
GUILTY RIVER, The (Collins), 149
HAND AND HEART (Gaskell), 207, 210
HARD CASH (Reade), 163
HARRY HEATHCOTE OF GANGOIL (Trollope), 34, 61
HAUNTED HOTEL, The (Collins), 132, 133, 146
HEART AND SCIENCE (Collins), 132, 133, 148
HE KNEW HE WAS RIGHT (Trollope), 31, 32, 54
HENRIETTA TEMPLE (Disraeli), 110, 118
HERO AND A MARTYR, A (Reade), 165
HIDE AND SEEK (Collins), 130, 134, 138
HOLMBY HOUSE (Whyte-Melville), 187, 191
HORACE (Whyte-Melville), 189
HOW THE 'MASTIFFS' WENT TO ICELAND (Trollope), 65
HUNTING SKETCHES (Trollope), 48
HYPOCHONDRIAC, The (Reade), _Play_, 173
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BURMESE WAR (Marryat), 103
INFERNAL MARRIAGE, The (Disraeli), 121
INSIDE THE BAR (Whyte-Melville), 193
INTERPRETER, The (Whyte-Melville), 191
I SAY NO (Collins), 132, 148
IS HE POPENJOY? (Trollope), 32, 64
ISRAEL POTTER (Herman Melville), 230
IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND (Reade), _Novel_, 160
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND (Reade), _Play_, 174
IXION IN HEAVEN (Disraeli), 121
JACK ASHORE (Howard), 101
JACOB FAITHFUL (Marryat), 78, 79, 84, 85
JAPHET IN SEARCH OF A FATHER (Marryat), 77, 78, 81, 87
JEALOUSY (Reade), _Play_, 179
JEZEBEL'S DAUGHTER (Collins), 132, 147
JILT, The (Reade), 168
JOAN (Reade), _Play_, 179
JOHN CALDIGATE (Trollope), 34, 66
JOHN MARR AND OTHER SAILORS (Herman Melville), 233
JOSEPH RUSHBROOK (Marryat), 78, 93
KATE COVENTRY (Whyte-Melville), 186, 191
KATE PEYTON (Reade), _Play_, 174, 177
KATERFELTO (Whyte-Melville), 188, 197
KELLYS AND THE O'KELLYS, The (Trollope), 26, 37
KEPT IN THE DARK (Trollope), 34, 69
KING'S OWN, The (Marryat), 78, 83
KINGS' RIVAL, The (Reade), _Play_, 172
LADIES' BATTLE, The (Reade), _Play_, 170, 175
LADY ANNA (Trollope), 33, 61
LADY'S OATH, A (Reade), _Play_, 178
LANDLEAGUERS, The (Trollope), 26, 70
LAST CHRONICLE OF BARSET, The (Trollope), 22, 29, 50
LA VENDÉE (Trollope), 38
LAW AND THE LADY, The (Collins), 132, 133, 144
LAWYERS AND LEGISLATORS (Disraeli), 113
LAZY TOUR OF TWO IDLE APPRENTICES, The (Collins), 151
LE FAUBOURG SAINT-GERMAIN (Reade), _Play_, 173
LEGACY OF CAIN, The (Collins), 132, 150
LETTERS OF RUNNYMEDE, The (Disraeli), 118
LIBBIE MARSH'S THREE ERAS (Gaskell), 204, 206, 210
LIFE OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË (Gaskell), 207
LIFE OF CICERO, The (Trollope), 67
LIFE OF PAUL JONES, The (Disraeli), 123
LINDA TRESSEL (Trollope), 35, 53
LITTLE NOVELS (Collins), 132, 150
LITTLE SAVAGE, The (Marryat), 80, 96
LIZZIE LEIGH (Gaskell), 205, 206
LOIS THE WITCH (Gaskell), 208, 209
LORD GEORGE BENTINCK (Disraeli), 120
LORD PALMERSTON (Trollope), 69
LOST HUSBAND, The (Reade), _Play_, 170
LOST SISTERS, The (Reade), _Play_, 178
LOTHAIR (Disraeli), 111, 122
LOTTA SCHMIDT (Trollope), 53
LOVE ME LITTLE LOVE ME LONG (Reade), 162
LOVE AND MONEY (Reade), _Play_, 177
LUCREZIA BORGIA (Reade), _Play_, 178
MABEL VAUGHAN (Gaskell), 212
MACDERMOTTS OF BALLYCLORAN, The (Trollope), 26, 37
MAN AND WIFE (Collins), 132, 133, 142
MARDI AND A VOYAGE THITHER (Herman Melville), 219, 225
MARGUERITE (Reade), _Play_, 178
MARINE COAST, The (Howard), 102
MARION FAY (Trollope), 33, 69
MARKET HARBOROUGH (Whyte-Melville), 185, 188, 192
MARY BARTON (Gaskell), 204
MASKS AND FACES (Reade), _Play_, 171
MASTERMAN READY (Marryat), 80, 81, 92
MEMOIRS OF ADMIRAL SIR SIDNEY SMITH (Howard), 101
MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM COLLINS (Collins), 136
MESSAGE FROM THE SEA, A (Collins), _Play_, 152
MISS GWILT (Collins), _Play_, 155
MISSION, The (Marryat), 80, 94
MISS MACKENZIE (Trollope), 28, 29, 47
MISS OR MRS.? (Collins), 144
MOBY DICK (Herman Melville), 218, 219, 220, 229
MOONSTONE, The (Collins), _Novel_, 129, 131, 142
MOONSTONE, The (Collins), _Play_, 155
MOORLAND COTTAGE, The (Gaskell), 205
M. OR N. (Whyte-Melville), 187, 195
MR. MIDSHIPMAN EASY (Marryat), 78, 80, 88
MR. SCARBOROUGH'S FAMILY (Trollope), 30, 70
MR. WRAY'S CASH BOX (Collins), 133, 134, 137
MY MISCELLANIES (Collins), 141
NARRATIVE OF A FOUR MONTHS' RESIDENCE AMONG THE NATIVES OF A VALLEY OF
THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS (Herman Melville), 222, 223
NARRATIVE OF THE TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF MONSIEUR VIOLET IN
CALIFORNIA, etc. (Marryat), 80, 93
NAVAL OFFICER, The (Marryat), 78, 79, 83
NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND (Hazlewood), _Play_, 175
NEW MAGDALEN, The (Collins), _Novel_, 132, 133, 143
NEW MAGDALEN, The (Collins), _Play_, 155
NEWTON FORSTER (Marryat), 78, 83
NINA BALATKA (Trollope), 34, 50
NOBS AND SNOBS (Reade), _Play_, 178
NO NAME (Collins), _Novel_, 131, 141
NO NAME (Collins), _Play_, 152, 154
NORTH AMERICA (Trollope), 44
NORTH AND SOUTH (Gaskell), 207
NO THOROUGHFARE (Collins), _Story_, 151
NO THOROUGHFARE (Collins), _Play_, 153
OLD COMMODORE, The (Howard), 100
OLD MAN'S LOVE, An (Trollope), 34, 71
OLLA PODRIDA (Marryat), 91
OMOO (Herman Melville), 219, 224
ORLEY FARM (Trollope), 24, 30, 31, 42
OUTWARD BOUND (Howard), 101
PACHA OF MANY TALES, The (Marryat), 78, 81, 85
PEG WOFFINGTON (Reade), 160
PERCIVAL KEENE (Marryat), 78, 79, 93
PEREGRINE PICKLE (Reade), _Play_, 170
PERILOUS SECRET, A (Reade), 168
PERILS OF CERTAIN ENGLISH PRISONERS (Collins), 151
PETER SIMPLE (Marryat), 78, 79, 81, 84, 85
PHANTOM SHIP, The (Marryat), 80, 89
PHINEAS FINN (Trollope), 23, 24, 30, 54
PHINEAS REDUX (Trollope), 23, 24, 60
PIAZZA TALES, The (Herman Melville), 218, 219, 220, 231
PIERRE (Herman Melville), 229, 230
PIRATE, AND THE THREE CUTTERS, The (Marryat), 78, 79, 85
PLOT IN PRIVATE LIFE, A (Collins), 140
POOR JACK (Marryat), 78, 79, 90
POOR MISS FINCH (Collins), 134, 143
POVERTY AND PRIDE (Reade), _Play_, 172
PRESENT STATE OF MEXICO, The (Disraeli), 113
PRIME MINISTER, The (Trollope), 23, 25, 62
PRIVATEER'S-MAN, The (Marryat), 78, 79, 95
PUT YOURSELF IN HIS PLACE (Reade), 164
QUEEN OF HEARTS, The (Collins), 130, 140
QUEEN'S MARIES, The (Whyte-Melville), 187, 193
RACHEL RAY (Trollope), 28, 29, 44
RACHEL THE REAPER (Reade), _Play_, 179
RALPH THE HEIR (Trollope), 32, 58
RAMBLES BEYOND RAILWAYS (Collins), 137
RATTLIN THE REEFER (Marryat/Howard), 99
READIANA (Reade), 167
REDBURN (Herman Melville), 219, 226, 227
REVOLUTIONARY EPICK, The (Disraeli), 117, 121
RIDING RECOLLECTIONS (Whyte-Melville), 185, 188, 199
RIGHT AT LAST (Gaskell), 208
ROGUE'S LIFE, A (Collins), 146
ROSINE (Whyte-Melville), 187, 198
ROUND THE SOFA (Gaskell), 208
ROY'S WIFE (Whyte-Melville), 187, 199
RUTH (Gaskell), 205
SARCHEDON (Whyte-Melville), 187, 196
SATANELLA (Whyte-Melville), 187, 196
SETTLERS IN CANADA, The (Marryat), 80, 94
SEXTON'S HERO, The (Gaskell), 204, 206, 210
SHILLY SHALLY (Reade), _Play_, 32, 179
SHOCKING STORY, A (Collins), 145
SICKNESS AND HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE OF BLAEBURN (wrongly attributed to
Gaskell), 212
SIMPLETON, A (Reade), 165
SINGLE HEART AND DOUBLE FACE (Reade), _Novel_, 167
SINGLE HEART AND DOUBLE FACE (Reade), _Play_, 179
SIR HARRY HOTSPUR OF HUMBLETHWAITE (Trollope), 34, 58
SIR HENRY MORGAN (Howard), 102
SISTER LOUISE (Whyte-Melville), 187, 198
SMALL HOUSE AT ALLINGTON, The (Trollope), 22, 45
SNARLEYOW (Marryat), 80, 88
SONGS AND VERSES (Whyte-Melville), 195
SOUTH AFRICA (Trollope), 64
STAR CHAMBER, The (Disraeli), 123
STORIES OF THE SEA (Marryat), 87
STORY OF TOBY, The (Herman Melville), 223
STRUGGLES OF BROWN, JONES AND ROBINSON, The (Trollope), 34, 57
SUGGESTION FOR THE ABOLITION OF THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF IMPRESSMENT IN
THE NAVAL SERVICE (Marryat), 82
SYBIL (Disraeli), 110, 111, 120
SYLVIA'S LOVERS (Gaskell), 209
TALES OF ALL COUNTRIES (Trollope). First series, 41; second series, 44
TANCRED (Disraeli), 110, 111, 120
TERRIBLE TEMPTATION, A (Reade), 165
THACKERAY (Trollope), 65
THOMPSON HALL (Trollope), 68
THREE CLERKS, The (Trollope), 24, 30, 39
TILBURY NOGO (Whyte-Melville), 186, 189
TIMOLEON (Herman Melville), 233
TRADE MALICE (Reade), 166
TRAGEDY OF COUNT ALARCOS, The (Disraeli), 119, 121
TRAVELLING SKETCHES (Trollope), 49
TRUE CROSS, The (Whyte-Melville), 197
TWO DESTINIES, The (Collins), 131, 144
TWO LECTURES ON LANCASHIRE DIALECT (Gaskell), 206
TWO LOVES AND A LIFE (Reade), _Play_, 172
TYPEE (Herman Melville), 218, 219, 222, 223
UNCLE JOHN (Whyte-Melville), 187, 197
VALERIE (Marryat), 78, 96
VENETIA (Disraeli), 110, 119
VICAR OF BULLHAMPTON, The (Trollope), 35, 55
VILLAGE TALE, The (Reade), _Play_, 178
VINDICATION OF THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION IN A LETTER TO A NOBLE AND
LEARNED LORD (Disraeli), 117
VISITS TO REMARKABLE PLACES (Howitt Gaskell), 212
VIVIAN GREY (Disraeli), 107, 108, 110, 114
VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN POPANILLA, The (Disraeli), 108, 109, 110, 114, 121
WANDERING HEIR, The (Reade), _Story_, 166
WANDERING HEIR (Reade), _Play_, 179
WARDEN, The (Trollope), 22, 38
WAY THINGS TURN, The (Reade), _Play_, 178
WAY WE LIVE NOW, The (Trollope), 29, 33, 34, 62
WELCOME, A (Trollope), 72
WELL BORN WORKMAN, The (Reade), 176
WEST INDIES AND THE SPANISH MAIN, The (Trollope), 40
WHALE, The (Herman Melville), 228, 229
WHAT IS HE? (Disraeli), 116
WHITE JACKET (Herman Melville), 219, 227, 228
WHITE LIES (Reade), 161
WHITE ROSE, The (Whyte-Melville), 187, 194
WHY FRAU FROHMANN RAISED HER PRICES (Trollope), 68
WIVES AND DAUGHTERS (Gaskell), 211
WOMAN HATER, A (Reade), 166
WOMAN IN WHITE, The (Collins), _Novel_, 129, 131, 132, 140
WOMAN IN WHITE, The (Collins), _Play_, 154
WONDROUS TALE OF ALROY, The (Disraeli), 108, 116
WORKS OF ISAAC DISRAELI, Ed. B. Disraeli, 124
YOUNG DUKE, The (Disraeli), 109, 114
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY BILLING AND SONS, LIMITED, GUILDFORD AND
ESHER.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES
1. Made corrections indicated in Errata and Addendum.
2. Silently corrected typographical errors.
3. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
5. Superscripts are denoted by a carat before a single superscript
character or a series of superscripted characters enclosed in curly
braces, e.g. M^r. or M^{ister}.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Excursions in Victorian Bibliography" ***
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