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Children of The New Poetry

William Wootten

in The Alvarez Generation: Thom Gunn, Geoffrey Hill, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, and Peter Porter

This chapter argues that the offsprings of The New Poetry have neither the nerve nor nous to have both the fierce partiality and the representativeness of Alvarez. Its Penguin successor, Blake ... More

This chapter argues that the offsprings of The New Poetry have neither the nerve nor nous to have both the fierce partiality and the representativeness of Alvarez. Its Penguin successor, Blake Morrison and Andrew Motion's Penguin Book of Contemporary British Verse, was ultimately a consolidation of a dominant taste more than an argument for a fresh one. The oft-stated complaint about the younger poets championed in their book is that their work was merely a continuation of the Movement by flashier device, but in truth a number of them are better seen as children of The New Poetry. Bloodaxe, a specialist poetry house, has for the last two decades taken upon itself to publish generation-defining anthologies. Its own The New Poetry borrowed Alvarez's title, if not his sense of purpose, but drew heavily on the format and ethos of Edward Lucie-Smith, if not his evaluative sense. The editors assembled work which often showed the influence of Paul Muldoon as well as the New York Poets, whose sense of play, even of fun, is much more clearly at odds with the spirits of Alvarez and of Conquest than are the influences of the Motion/Morison book.Less

A New Spirit of Engagement

in Steam-Powered Knowledge: William Chambers and the Business of Publishing, 1820-1860

The American book trade had a long history of engagement with British trade, but the reverse was not necessarily true. The slow progress of the negotiations between William Chambers and Gould showed ... More

The American book trade had a long history of engagement with British trade, but the reverse was not necessarily true. The slow progress of the negotiations between William Chambers and Gould showed how correspondents learned to make the best use of the new steamship service. British fiction appeared to have suffered more from unauthorized reprinting than nonfiction in America due to its greater marketability. American reprinters had always been dependent on the British trade, even through the years of depression after 1840. But it is shown that from 1846 onward, American publishers and importers worked harder to promote their works in London; British publishers began to import and reprint American works; and other British publishers responded to the efforts of American auctioneers and transatlantic shipping companies to solicit their business.Less

Made in Britain?

Michele K. Troy

in Strange Bird: The Albatross Press and the Third Reich

This chapter examines how Albatross Press carved its reputation as an ambassador for British books in Continental Europe. From its inception, John Holroyd-Reece had publicly framed Albatross as ... More

This chapter examines how Albatross Press carved its reputation as an ambassador for British books in Continental Europe. From its inception, John Holroyd-Reece had publicly framed Albatross as British, much to the ire of the British publishing establishment. Yet he insisted that Albatross's sympathies were undeniably British. If British publishers had thought Bernhard Tauchnitz was privileging German economic interests to their detriment, Albatross—with its modern books and clever advertising—was perceived as an even greater threat. Albatross's obvious legal ties to Adolf Hitler's Germany only complicated the question of its Anglo-American loyalties. This chapter discusses Albatross's feud with the British Publishers Association as well as the Albatross Crime Club series that was introduced by Albatross to the German book trade two months after Hitler seized power.Less

Colonial Editions

Graeme Johanson

in The Oxford History of the Novel in English: Volume 9: The World Novel in English to 1950

This chapter describes a colonial edition and considers its role in the patterns of the entire export trade in British books from the 1840s onwards. A colonial edition is categorized as a new setting ... More

This chapter describes a colonial edition and considers its role in the patterns of the entire export trade in British books from the 1840s onwards. A colonial edition is categorized as a new setting of type (a true edition), a separate impression from the same type, a separate issue, a reissue, or other types of book which do not fit neatly into a prescriptive bibliographical scheme. Colonial editions were produced to appear distinctive, in order to market them as reliable series of quality, and to prevent them being sold in the United Kingdom, where new novels cost at least twice as much per title as in the colonies. They were a cornerstone of the book trade to South Africa between the South African War (1899–1902) and World War One (1914–1918).Less

Enemy Books

Michele K. Troy

in Strange Bird: The Albatross Press and the Third Reich

This chapter examines how John Holroyd-Reece and Erich Kupfer were able to deploy Albatross-Tauchnitz books despite being on opposite sides during World War II. When Britain declared war on Germany, ... More

This chapter examines how John Holroyd-Reece and Erich Kupfer were able to deploy Albatross-Tauchnitz books despite being on opposite sides during World War II. When Britain declared war on Germany, the German Propaganda Ministry declared war on British books. Still, Albatross Press and Bernhard Tauchnitz earned the distinction of offering books that belonged to both sides. From Paris and from Leipzig, Holroyd-Reece and Kupfer sent their titles across Europe in the first few months of the conflict. The two men—each running half an operation—faced off in a bizarre competition to sell their English-language titles to continental readers as war raged on around them. This chapter considers how Albatross and Tauchnitz books were successfully distributed by Holroyd-Reece and Kupfer during the war, rather than being maligned as “enemy books” by one or the other.Less

The Dissipation of Tom Jones

Jayne Elizabeth Lewis

in Air’s Appearance: Literary Atmosphere in British Fiction, 1660–1794

The “great Shocks” which convulsed London in the winter of 1749 caught the eye of literary scholars, especially as Anglican bishop Thomas Sherlock interpreted and announced them as a sign that God ... More

The “great Shocks” which convulsed London in the winter of 1749 caught the eye of literary scholars, especially as Anglican bishop Thomas Sherlock interpreted and announced them as a sign that God had condemned the British book trade. Sherlock mentioned no particular author in particular, although one principal offender is often presumed to have been Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones—a fiction whose main sin was an unbecoming appetite for low life. Tom Jones contained in its pages a sense of slippery sexual politics, one of the factors that drove it from the stage with the Licensing Act of 1737. Throughout the chapter, the author examines the criticism garnered by Fielding’s work, and how its resonance in literature affected the discussion of air and atmosphere.Less

Reaching a National Market

in Steam-Powered Knowledge: William Chambers and the Business of Publishing, 1820-1860

This chapter considers the Edinburgh publishing trade. Edinburgh was the second center of the British book trade, and launching Chambers's Journal there brought both advantages and disadvantages. ... More

This chapter considers the Edinburgh publishing trade. Edinburgh was the second center of the British book trade, and launching Chambers's Journal there brought both advantages and disadvantages. William Chambers had to overcome some serious challenges to distribute his publication throughout Britain and beyond. An innovative use of stereotype plates would provide the solution. The natural market for Chambers's Journal was the lowlands and south of Scotland. At the launch of the Journal, William had the advantage of a literate local market with an interest in instruction, and quickly realized that stereotype plates could streamline the system of two-center printing. Thus, moving so quickly to two-center printing was a brave and confident move, placing great trust not merely in William Orr's capabilities but in the future success of the Journal itself.Less