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Longfellow and His Authorized British Publishers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Clarence Gohdes
Clarence Gohdes*
Affiliation:
Duke University
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Extract

The fact that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was one of the most widely read poets in the British Isles during the middle of the nineteenth century cannot be explained entirely by the popular nature of a large portion of his writings. Equally important are the circumstances connected with the publishing business, which, prior to the passage of the American international copyright act in 1891, made possible the purchase of pirated editions of his various works at a price within the range of the lower levels of the reading classes. Tennyson was indeed popular, but in the 1850's a copy of one of his books cost a good round sum. Longfellow likewise was popular, but a copy of his latest work could often be bought for a shilling. The result was inevitable. When an English woman wrote to Longfellow in 1876 protesting against American publishers, who had reprinted her works without permission, the poet replied:

It may comfort you to know that I have had twenty-two publishers in England and Scotland, and only four of them ever took the slightest notice of my existence, even so far as to send me a copy of the books. Shall we call that “chivalry,” —or the other word? Some good comes of it, after all; for it is an advertisement, and surely helps what follows. It gives you thousands of readers instead of hundreds.

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 55 , Issue 4 , December 1940 , pp. 1165 - 1179
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1940

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References

1 An example of his popularity may be found in the letter to the poet from his friend William H. Prescott, written on October 7, 1850, after a trip to England: “Your reputation has been on the increase rapidly & largely [in] the last few years in England. Certain it is that your works are admired not only more than those of any American poet, but of any living English poet as far as my experience goes. I have heard them quoted & sung and talked of & great interest shown in your personal habits, looks, manners, &c. You know in what handsome form your writings are published; and if you should travel there you would find in how cheap & popular forms they are to be found at all the railway stations. Your prose writings seem to be also in great favor, & your reputation in the land of our fathers is such as the most ambitious aspirant for literary laurels might well covet” (MS, Craigie House, referred to in Samuel Longfellow, Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 3 vols. [Boston and New York, 1899], ii, 191).

Mr. H. W. L. Dana has graciously allowed me to use the papers in Craigie House, and Mr. Frederick B. Tolles has assisted me in the preparation of materials for this study, which has been partially subsidized by the Duke University Research Council.

2 For the high prices demanded by Tennyson from publishers, see William Tinsley, Random Recollections of an Old Publisher (London and Paris, 1905), i, 236 ff.; and Frank A. Mumby, The House of Routledge, 1834–1934 (London, 1934), pp. 80–81 and 185 ff.

3 Samuel Longfellow, op. cit., iii, 265–266.

4 L.'s MS journal, Craigie House, quoted by Lawrance Thompson, Young Longfellow (New York, 1938), p. 216.

5 Ibid., p. 217; and Bentley's statement, Craigie House. L. from the outset had “no golden dreams.” See Luther S. Livingston, A Bibliography of the First Editions in Book Form of the Writings of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (New York, 1908), p. 22.

6 B. to L., January 3, 1841, and October 10, 1842. These poems were apparently republished in The Bentley Ballads (London, 1869).

7 C. and H. to L., December 3, 1845.

8 May 5, 1849.

9 On June 22, 1849, Walker wrote that a court decision had ruled “that a Foreigner cannot . . . convey to another that which he is not possessed of; and that Priority of Publication is of no effect in law.” He added, however, “Priority is . . . of use in obtaining the best chance of selling. . . ”.

10 W. to L., June 28, 1850.

11 W. to L., December 18, 1850.

12 June 13, 1851.

13 B. to L., July 18, 1851. The Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. With Numerous Illustrations. For J. Walker by D. Bogue, London, 1851.

14 September 5, 1851.

15 September 27, 1851. Mr. J. Lee Harlan, Jr., of.New York City, has kindly shown me copies of L.'s letters to Forster, which he plans to publish in the near future.

16 R. to L., September 27, 1851.

17 W. to L., October 24, 1851.

18 B. to L., November 14, 1851.

19 B. to L., January 9, 1852.

20 B. to L., February 15, 1853.

21 See also B. to L., January 23, 1855.

22 R. to L., February 15, February 26, and March 23, 1855.

23 M. to L., November 21, 1856. On March 26, 1843, L. had written to his father that 250 copies of The Spanish Student and of his Ballads were printed in Boston for Edward Moxon (Samuel Longfellow, o±. cit., ii, 13).

24 R. to L., January 23, 1857, and April 17, 1857. W. Kent to L., June 23, 1857. Longfellow apparently had been attracted to Bogue by the artistic qualities of his editions and probably expected Bogue's successor to follow in the tradition.

25 See in connection with Kent's scheme for thwarting the pirates Richard Curie, Collecting American First Editions (Indianapolis, 1930), pp. 189–190. Mr. Frederick B. Tolles has called my attention to this reference.

26 R. to L., March 31, 1866.

27 February 1, 1867. On March 29, 1867, Frederick Warne, another of the more princely pirates, wrote L., acknowledging receipt of an autograph for use with a portrait of the poet in a “second” edition of his poems shortly to be issued. At the same time he offered to make arrangements “respecting early sheets of any new work.”

28 R. to L., May 30, 1868.

29 Forster to L., August 24, 1868.

30 Life of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, iii, 265; and an unidentified clipping in the Craigie House.

31 L. to Forster, October 11, 1868, MS copy in possession of Mr. J. Lee Harlan, Jr.; L. to Fields, August 23, 1868, and October 18, 1868 (Samuel Longfellow, op. cit., iii, 122–123 and 124). Tauchnitz, who had been paying L. from time to time for permissions and whose editions competed in England, ordered one hundred francs to be paid the author for the Tragedies (Tauchnitz to L., September 15, 1868).

32 R. to L., May 28, 1872.

33 R. to L., June 4, 1872.

34 R. to L., November 29, 1872. R. regretted his failure to remit £250 which he owed probably for The Divine Tragedy and Three Books of Song.

35 Joseph Blamire to L., July 9, 1873, and September 2, 1873.

36 Samuel Longfellow, op. cit., iii, 220.

37 Luther S. Livingston, op. cit., pp. 85–87.

38 R. to L., August 20, 1875. Ultimately £100 altogether seems to have been paid.

39 George L. Craik, a partner in the company, visited him in September, 1876, and conducted the negotiations. Craik to L., September 3, 1876, and September 20, 1876.

40 R. (New York) to L., July, 1878.

41 R. (London) to L., July 2, 1878.

42 R. (London) to L., November 14, 1878. On March 22, 1880, Harper & Co. wrote to Lasking his approval of simultaneous publication of “Robert Burns” in the New Quarterly Magazine of London. The sum offered by Kegan, Paul & Co. for the privilege was £10.

43 R. to L., October 23 and November 4, 1880. R. announced the date of the English edition as September 11, 1880 (R. to L., May 27, 1880).

44 In all L. appears to have received some £3,000 from Routledge (Frank A. Mumby, op. cit., pp. 99–100). Ernest W. Longfellow continued for a while to negotiate with Routledge. Routledge offered a ten per cent royalty for Michael Angelo and paid $978 for the advance sheets of In the Harbor (R. to E. W. L., September 25, 1882).

45 Frederick Warne & Co., Ltd., in a communication to me dated February 23, 1939. The Routledge statistics above were included in a letter to me dated January 31, 1939.