bibliographical in its bearing, demands a passing word. "If
'In Memoriam' were published," Hallam Tennyson says in his
life of the laureate, "Moxon had promised a small yearly
royalty on this and on the other poems, and so my father had
decided that he could now honourably offer my mother a home.
Accordingly after ten years of separation their engagement was
renewed.... Moxon now advanced £300--so my uncle Charles told
a friend,--at all events £300 were in my father's bank in his
name." With this and their small incomes combined they decided
to marry. The marriage took place June 13, the month that saw
the publication of "In Memoriam."
Octavo.
COLLATION: _vii, 210 pp._
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE
(1804-1864)
90. The | Scarlet Letter, | A Romance. | By | Nathaniel Hawthorne. |
Boston: | Ticknor, Read, And Fields | MDCCCL.
James T. Fields, in his little life of Hawthorne, tells of a
visit to Salem to see the author. He goes on to say:
"... I caught sight of a bureau or set of drawers near where
we were sitting; and immediately it occurred to me that hidden
away somewhere in that article of furniture was a story or
stories by the author of the 'Twice-Told Tales,' and I became
so positive of it that I charged him vehemently with the fact.
He seemed surprised, I thought, but shook his head again; and
I rose to take my leave.... I was hurrying down the stairs
when he called after me from the chamber, asking me to stop
a moment. Then quickly stepping into the entry with a roll of
manuscript in his hands, he said: 'How in Heaven's name did
you know the thing was there? As you have found me out, take
what I have written, and tell me, after you get home and have
time to read it, if it is good for anything....' On my way up
to Boston I read the germ of 'The Scarlet Letter'; before I
slept that night I wrote him a note all aglow with admiration
of the marvellous story he had put into my hands, and told him
that I would come again to Salem the next day and arrange for
its publication."
It was Hawthorne's first intention to make the romance one of
a volume of several short stories, because, as he remarks to
Mr. Fields:
"A hunter loads his gun with a bullet and several buckshot;
and, following his sagacious example, it was my purpose to
conjoin the one long story with half a dozen shorter ones, so
that, failing to kill the public outright with my biggest and
heaviest lump of lead, I might have other chances with the
smaller bits, individually and in the aggregate." But this
plan was finally changed and it was decided to publish the
story alone. There was then some talk about a title for it.
"In this latter event" (the event of publishing alone), "it
appears to me that the only proper title for the book would
be 'The Scarlet Letter,' for 'The Custom House' is merely
introductory...." And so it was decided.
"If 'The Scarlet Letter' is to be the title," he asked Mr.
Fields, "would it not be well to print it on the title-page in
red ink? I am not quite sure about the good taste of so doing,
but it would certainly be piquant and appropriate, and, I
think, attractive to the great gull whom we are endeavoring to
circumvent." The reader might ask the bibliophile if the red
title line, for it was printed in that way, really did have
anything to do with the circumventing which eventually took
place.
On February 4, 1850, Hawthorne wrote to Horatio Bridges:
"I finished my book yesterday, one end being in the press in
Boston, while the other was in my head here in Salem; so that,
as you see, the story is at least fourteen miles long."
The book appeared about March 16. As Mr. George Parsons
Lathrop points out, there seems to have been no expectation of
a very successful sale, in spite of Mr. Fields's enthusiasm;
but to the surprise of all, the whole issue was exhausted in
ten days. A second edition, with a preface dated March 30, was
soon published, making, with the first, a total number of five
thousand copies. All these were printed by Metcalf &
Company of Cambridge. The third issue was entirely reset and
electrotyped, and numbered 307 pages.
The second issue, beside the preface, shows numerous changes,
especially in words. Among these the bookseller's favorite
catch-word "reduplicate" (p. 21, l. 20) was changed to
"repudiate." In late copies of the stereotyped form, this word
was changed to "resuscitate."
Duodecimo.
COLLATION: _vi, 322 pp._
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
(1811-1896)
91. Uncle Tom's Cabin; | Or, | Life Among The Lowly. | By | Harriet
Beecher Stowe. | [Vignette] Vol. I. | Boston: | John P. Jewett &
Company. | Cleveland, Ohio: | Jewett, Proctor & Worthington. | 1852.
The first chapter of _Uncle Tom_ appeared June, 1851, in _The
National Era_ of Washington, a magazine edited by Gamaliel
Bailey, and one of the ablest mediums of opinion of the
anti-slavery party. It was finished in April, 1852. Mrs. Stowe
received $300 for her labor.
The interest which the story awakened led John Punchard
Jewett, a member of the first anti-slavery society in New
England, and himself a frequent contributor to the newspapers
on anti-slavery topics, to offer to bring it out immediately
in book form, giving the author ten per cent. on the sales.
The proposition was accepted, and the book was published March
20, 1852. The very remarkable sale of three thousand copies
the first day was only an earnest of what was to happen.
Over 300,000 copies were sold within the year, and eight
power-presses running day and night could hardly supply the
demand.
There is a vignette on the title-pages signed by the
engravers, _Baker-Smith_, and each volume contains three
unsigned plates, evidently by the same artist, and engraved
by the same hands as the vignette. The volumes were bound
in black with the vignette of the title-page stamped on the
covers, the front impression being in gold.
Octavo.
COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _312 pp._ Volume II: _322
pp. Six plates._
JOHN RUSKIN
(1819-1900)
92. The | Stones of Venice. | Volume The First. | The Foundations. |
By John Ruskin, | [Two lines] With Illustrations Drawn By The Author.
| London: | Smith, Elder And Co., 65. Cornhill. | 1851. [-1853.]
These fine volumes, printed by Spottiswoode and Shaw, have a
particularly clean and clear type-page, and are excellent
in press-work. It is not the type, however, that demands our
especial attention, but the illustrations with which the work
is liberally furnished. These distinguish it from anything we
have hitherto seen in our list of books. The plates and cuts,
made by various processes, mezzo-tinting, lithography, line
engraving and wood-cutting, mark most clearly the advance
in bookmaking which had taken place within the half century.
Hitherto we have had illustrations for their own sakes, or for
the ornamentation of the books they are in, and depending for
their existence solely upon the liberality and intelligence of
the publisher; but here we have illustrations introduced
into the book for the sake of the text, of which they are an
integral part. Ruskin's own words about them, as found in the
Preface, are instructive:
"It was of course inexpedient to reduce drawings of crowded
details to the size of an octavo volume,--I do not say
impossible, but inexpedient; requiring infinite pains on the
part of the engraver, with no result except farther pain to
the beholder. And as, on the other hand, folio books are
not easy reading, I determined to separate the text and the
unreduceable plates. I have given, with the principal
text, all the illustrations absolutely necessary to the
understanding of it, and, in the detached work, such
additional text as had special reference to the larger
illustrations.
"A considerable number of these larger plates were at first
intended to be executed in tinted lithography; but, finding
the result unsatisfactory, I have determined to prepare the
principal subjects for mezzotinting,--a change of method
requiring two new drawings to be made for every subject; one
a carefully penned outline for the etcher, and then a finished
drawing upon the etching....
"For the illustrations of the body of the work itself, I
have used any kind of engraving which seemed suited to the
subjects--line and mezzotint, on steel, with mixed lithographs
and woodcuts, at a considerable loss of uniformity in the
appearance of the volume, but, I hope, with advantage, in
rendering the character of the architecture it describes."
"The illustrations to the new book," Collingwood adds, "were
a great advance upon the rough soft-ground etchings of the
_Seven Lamps_. He secured the services of some of the finest
engravers who ever handled the tools of their art. The English
school of engravers was then in its last and most accomplished
period. Photography had not yet begun to supersede it; and the
demand for delicate work in book illustration had encouraged
minuteness and precision of handling to the last degree. In
this excessive refinement there were the symptoms of decline;
but it was most fortunate for Mr. Ruskin that his drawings
could be interpreted by such men as Armytage and Cousen, Cuff
and Le Keux, Boys and Lupton.... The mere fact of their skill
in translating a sketch from a note-book into a gem-like
vignette, encouraged him to ask for more; so that some of
the subjects which became the most elaborate were at first
comparatively rough drawings, and were gradually worked up
from successive retouchings of the proofs by the infinite
patience of both parties. In other cases, working drawings
were prepared by Mr. Ruskin, as refined as the plates."
"Like much else of his work, these plates for 'Stones of
Venice' were in advance of the times. The publishers thought
them 'caviare to the general,' so Mr. J. J. Ruskin told his
son; but gave it as his own belief that 'some dealers in
Ruskins and Turners in 1890 will get great prices for what at
present will not sell.'"
An "Advertisement" in the second volume tells us, "It was
originally intended that this Work should consist of two
volumes only; the subject has extended to three. The second
volume, however, will conclude the account of the ancient
architecture of Venice. The third will embrace the Early, the
Roman, and the Grotesque Renaissance; and an Index...."
The first volume, called _The Foundations_, and having
twenty-one plates, and the second, called _The Sea-Stories_,
with twenty plates, each cost two guineas. The third volume,
called _The Fall_, with twelve plates, cost a guinea and a
half. They were bound in cloth, stamped in gold, with the
"Lion of St. Mark" on the back. A few copies of both volumes
one and two were issued in two parts. The first volume ran
into a second edition in 1858, and the second and third were
reissued in 1867.
Octavo.
COLLATION: _Three volumes. Illustrations. Fifty-three plates._
ROBERT BROWNING
(1812-1889)
93. Men And Women. | By | Robert Browning. | In Two Volumes. | Vol. I.
| London: | Chapman And Hall, 193, Piccadilly. | 1855.
This was the only edition of _Men and Women_ published
separately. The poems it contained were afterward incorporated
in collected editions; with the exception of _In a Balcony_,
they were distributed under the respective headings of
_Dramatic Lyrics_, _Dramatic Romances_, and _Men and Women_.
The book was issued in a green cloth binding, at twelve
shillings a copy.
Octavo.
COLLATION: _Two volumes._ Volume I: _iv, 260 pp._ Volume II:
_iv, 241 pp._
JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY
(1814-1877)
94. The Rise | Of The | Dutch Republic. | A History. | By John Lothrop
Motley. | In Three Volumes. | Vol. I. | New York: | Harper & Brothers,
| 329 & 331 Pearl Street. | 1856.
Motley wrote a letter to his wife, dated at London, May 10,
1854, in which he says that he has had the matter of copyright
looked up, and finds that the English law will protect him
if he publish his book recently completed, first, by however
small an interval, in England. He then carried the manuscript
to Murray, who received him civilly, and professed interest
in his subject, promising an answer in a fortnight. But the
answer, when it came, was unfavorable, and, being of the mind
that "if Murray declines ... I shall doubt very much whether
anybody will accept, because history is very much in his
line," he seems to have tried no farther, but to have arranged
with Mr. John Chapman to publish the _Dutch Republic_ himself.
Throughout the transaction Motley was very modest and not at
all sanguine for the success of his venture.
"It cannot take in England," he says to his mother in 1855,
"and moreover the war, Macaulay's new volumes, and Prescott's,
will entirely absorb the public attention." And again to his
father, May 13, 1856, he says:
"I have heard nothing from Chapman since the book was
published, but I feel sure from the silence that very few
copies have been sold. I shall be surprised if a hundred
copies are sold at the end of a year."
In reality, the book, as Dr. Holmes said, was "a triumph."
Seventeen thousand copies were sold in England alone during
the first year, and in America, where it was issued by the
Harpers, just long enough after the English edition to fulfill
all the demands of the copyright law, it was equally popular.
Mr. Murray afterward asked to be allowed to publish _The
History of the United Netherlands_, and expressed his
regret "at what he candidly called his mistake in the first
instance." Prescott, Motley's friend and generous rival, wrote
from Boston, April 18, 1856:
"You have good reason to be pleased with the reception the
book has had from the English press, considering that you had
no one particularly to stand godfather to your bantling, but
that it tumbled into the world almost without the aid of
a midwife. Under these circumstances success is a great
triumph...."
Octavo.
COLLATION: _Three volumes._
GEORGE ELIOT
MARY ANN _or_ MARIAN CROSS
(1819-1880)
95. Adam Bede | By | George Eliot | Author Of | "Scenes Of Clerical
Life" | [Quotation] In Three Volumes | Vol. I. | William Blackwood And
Sons | Edinburgh And London | MDCCCLIX | The Right of Translation is
reserved.
_Scenes from Clerical Life_ had appeared in the early part of
January, 1858, and had proved an unexpected success, but the
name of its author, concealed under a pseudonym, long proved a
mystery.
"The first volume [of Adam Bede]," says Mrs. Cross, "was
written at Richmond, and given to Blackwood in March. He
expressed great admiration of its freshness and vividness, but
seemed to hesitate about putting it in the Magazine, which was
the form of publication he, as well as myself, had previously
contemplated. He still _wished_ to have it for the Magazine,
but desired to know the course of the story. At _present_ he
saw nothing to prevent its reception in 'Maga,' but he would
like to see more. I am uncertain whether his doubts rested
solely on Hetty's relation to Arthur, or whether they were
also directed towards the treatment of Methodism by the
Church. I refused to tell my story beforehand, on the ground
that I would not have it judged apart from my _treatment_,
which alone determines the moral quality of art; and
ultimately I proposed that the notion of publication in 'Maga'
should be given up, and that the novel should be published in
three volumes at Christmas, if possible. He assented."
"... When, on October 29, I had written to the end of the
love-scene at the Farm between Adam and Dinah, I sent the MS.
to Blackwood, since the remainder of the third volume could
not affect the judgement passed on what had gone before. He
wrote back in warm admiration, and offered me, on the part of
the firm, £800 for four years' copyright. I accepted the
offer.... The book would have been published at Christmas, or
rather early in December, but that Bulwer's 'What will he do
with it?' was to be published by Blackwood at that time, and
it was thought that this novel might interfere with mine."
The book was published the first day of January with the still
unpenetrated pseudonym on the title-page. It cost thirty one
shillings and six pence. The advance subscriptions amounted
to 730 copies, and the following note, written March 16, gives
the history of its success:
"Blackwood writes to say I am 'a popular author as well as
a great author.' They printed 2,090 of 'Adam Bede,' and have
disposed of more than 1800, so that they are thinking of a
second edition."
In May, Blackwood proposed to add, at the end of the year,
£400 to the £800 originally given for the copyright. A fourth
edition of 5000 volumes was issued in 1859, all of which were
sold in a fortnight; a seventh was printed the same year, and
in October Blackwood felt justified in proposing to pay £800
more at the beginning of the new year. The sale amounted to
16,000 volumes in one year.
Octavo.
COLLATION: _Three volumes._
CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN
(1809-1882)
96. On | The Origin Of Species | [Four lines] By Charles Darwin, M.A.,
[Three lines] London: | John Murray, Albemarle Street. | 1859. | The
right of Translation is reserved.
The simplicity and honesty of Darwin's character are nowhere
more clearly seen than in his correspondence over the
production of this book, which, from its unorthodoxy, he
feared might expose others as well as himself to censure. For
example, he says in a letter of March 28, 1859, to Sir Charles
Lyell, the famous geologist, who made the arrangements for the
publication of the work:
"P.S. Would you advise me to tell Murray that my book is not
more _un_-orthodox than the subject makes inevitable....
Or had I better say _nothing_ to Murray, and assume that he
cannot object to this much unorthodoxy, which in fact is not
more than any Geological Treatise which runs slap counter to
Genesis."
Afterward, in a letter to J. D. Hooker, under date of April 2,
1859, he says:
"... I wrote to him [Mr. Murray] and gave him the headings of
the chapters, and told him he could not have the MSS. for ten
days or so; and this morning I received a letter, offering
me handsome terms, and agreeing to publish without seeing
the MS.! So he is eager enough; I think I should have been
cautious, anyhow, but, owing to your letter, I told him most
_explicitly_ that I accepted his offer solely on condition
that, after he has seen part or all the MS., he has full power
of retracting. You will think me presumptuous, but I think
my book will be popular to a certain extent (enough to ensure
[against] heavy loss) amongst scientific and semiscientific
men.... Anyhow, Murray ought to be the best judge, and if
he chooses to publish it, I think I may wash my hands of all
responsibility...."
His views on the success of the book are worth recording. To
Murray he writes, April 5, 1859: "It may be conceit, but I
believe the subject will interest the public, and I am sure
that the views are original. If you think otherwise, I must
repeat my request that you will freely reject my work; and
though I shall be a little disappointed, I shall be in no way
injured." And again to J. D. Hooker: "... Please do not say
to any one that I thought my book on Species would be fairly
popular, and have a fairly remunerative sale (which was the
height of my ambition), for if it proves a dead failure, it
would make me the more ridiculous."
After the book went to press he found it necessary to make
many corrections involving no slight extra expense; without
waiting for Murray to complain he took the initiative in
setting the matter upon the proper footing in the following
manner, in a letter written June 14, 1859:
"P.S. I have been looking at the corrections, and considering
them. It seems to me that I shall put you to quite unfair
expense. If you please I should like to enter into some such
arrangement as the following:
"When work completed, you to allow in the account a fairly
moderately heavy charge for corrections, and all excess
over that to be deducted from my profits, or paid by me
individually."
"... But you are really too generous about the, to me,
scandalously heavy corrections. Are you not acting unfairly
towards yourself? Would it not be better at least to share the
£72 8s.? I shall be fully satisfied, for I had no business
to send, though quite unintentionally and unexpectedly, such
badly composed MS. to the printers."
The first edition, a child, Darwin calls it, in whose
appearance he takes infinite pride and pleasure, was published
November 24:
"It is no doubt the chief work of my life. It was from the
first highly successful. The first small edition of 1250
copies was sold on the day of publication, and a second
edition of 3000 copies soon afterward. Sixteen thousand copies
have now (1876) been sold in England; and considering
how stiff a book it is, this is a large sale. It has been
translated into almost every European tongue, even into such
languages as Spanish, Bohemian, Polish, and Russian. It has
also, according to Miss Bird, been translated into Japanese
[a mistake] and is there much studied. Even an essay in Hebrew
has appeared on it, showing that the theory is contained in
the Old Testament!"
The second edition of 3000 copies, only a reprint, yet with
a few important corrections, was issued January 7, 1860. An
edition of 2500 copies was issued in the United States, where
it enjoyed great popularity. "I never dreamed," said he, "of
my book being so successful with general readers; I believe
I should have laughed at the idea of sending the sheets to
America."
The sum of £180 was received by the author for the first
edition, and £636 13s., for the second.
Duodecimo.
COLLATION: _ix, 502 pp. Folded plate._
EDWARD FITZGERALD
(1809-1883)
97. Rubáiyát | Of | Omar Khayyám, | The Astronomer-Poet Of Persia. |
Translated into English Verse. | London: | Bernard Quaritch, | Castle
Street, Leicester Square. | 1859.
Fitzgerald first offered his translation to the editor of
_Fraser's Magazine_, who returned it after holding it a long
time, apparently afraid to publish it. It was not until years
afterward that the poet, having nearly doubled the number of
the verses, issued it himself, anonymously, inserting in the
imprint, without even asking permission, the name of Bernard
Quaritch.
The little pamphlet in brown paper, with its eleven pages of
biography, and five pages of notes, against sixteen pages of
poem, was not attractive in appearance; and we are told that
it was not advertised in any way except by entry among the
Oriental numbers of Quaritch's catalogue. So it is really not
to be greatly wondered at that its sale was slow, even though
the price was set as low as five shillings. Two hundred copies
remaining on his hands, Quaritch, who had consented to act as
bookseller, finally resorted to the expedient of offering them
at half-a-crown, then at a shilling, then at sixpence, until
finally they were cleared out at a penny a volume.
Those who read it at this price acted as leaven, and nine
years afterward, in 1868, a second edition was called for; a
third was published in 1872, and a fourth in 1879. These were
all issued by Quaritch at his own expense, and all without
the translator's name. Quaritch paid Fitzgerald a small
honorarium, which he promptly gave away in charity.
Octavo.
COLLATION: _xiii, 21 pp._
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN,
CARDINAL
(1801-1890)
98. Apologia Pro Vita Sua: | Being | A Reply to a Pamphlet | Entitled
| "What, Then, Does Dr. Newman Mean?" [Quotation] By John Henry
Newman, D.D. | London: | Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, And Green.
| 1864.
The pamphlet _"What, Then, Does Dr. Newman Mean?" A Reply to
a Pamphlet lately published by Dr. Newman. By the Rev. Charles
Kingsley._, was issued in March, 1864. Cardinal Newman's
rejoinder took the form of a series of pamphlets. The first
appeared on Thursday, April 21, and its brown paper cover bore
the title given above, with the additional line, _Pt. I. Mr.
Kingsley's Method of Disputation_. Thereafter, on successive
Thursdays, until June 16, the following numbers appeared: _Pt.
II. True Mode Of Meeting Mr. Kingsley._ _Pt. III-VI. History
Of My Religious Opinions._ _Pt. VII. General Answer To Mr.
Kingsley._ _Appendix. Answer in Detail To Mr. Kingsley's
Accusations._
A title-page and "Contents" were issued with the Appendix.
Parts I, II, and III cost a shilling each, Parts IV, V, and
VII, two shillings each, Part VI, and the Appendix, each two
shillings sixpence.