PART I. Bibliographic Description
“Pickwick Papers” by Dickens, Charles. Published by Macdonald & Sons for the Edinburgh Society. The Broadstairs Edition. This edition was published in Pennsylvania. Impression number 101 of 250. This novel features the usual illustrations from the original work of Dickens and also features the vividly illustrated plates to accompany the story. The book is bound in three quarter leather with leather tips. The spine of the book is worn down but there is an elaborate golden gilt decoration of roses with leaves which makes it stand out. It also features slight golden gilt at the edges of each page. The pages within the book are in good condition but the edges do show signs of fading. The first volume has a decorative brown end paper, while the second volume has a decorative green end paper. The full-page illustrations are protected by tissue guards as a means to preserve their condition and color.
Side note before the scholarly analysis: I stumbled upon this book by accident. The original Pickwick that I encountered in Special Collections was only illustrations without the accompanying main text. When I came to Special Collections to research, I was given this edition of Pickwick instead and the physical aspects of this edition (rare plates, tissue guards, end papers) seemed more critical than the one I originally saw in our lab.
PART II. A SCHOLARLY ANALYSIS
Celebrated as the first serialized novel in 1836, Charles Dickens’ “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club” lays in historic and rarefied air. Ushering in the Victorian Era, the serialized novel was emblematic of a British culture that willingly valued reading for leisure. The impact of possessing and reading a physical bound copy of the inceptual serialized novel presented a monumental moment across British, and later, American culture. This 1912 edition of “The Pickwick Papers”, with all the usual illustration and very many rare plates, published by Macdonald & Sons for the Edinburgh Society, is the prime example of the novel becoming a commodified item in the 20th century. By capitalizing on the success of the serialized series in London, American publishers moved to bind the novel in its entirety to invoke commercial success. By selling limited editions which were indicated by rare and numbered book plates, “The Pickwick Papers”, in its Dickensian writing and collection of vivid plated illustrations, redefined the American literary space by transforming it into a commodified marketplace which valued the reexamination of cultural artifacts, as well as their remediation into resalable editions. The introduction of ownership in the form of book impressions, the whole number of copies of an edition that are printed at once, refreshed the purpose of the physical aspects of the book.
There are clear signs of wear and tear on the front cover and spine of the book. Being printed over a century ago though, the damage is minimal, and the leather-bound book has endured over time. As that is the case, the binding of the book has not been repaired or replaced and is authentically the same as when it was printed. The edges of the text blocks are plain. It is interesting to note that the tissue guards are markedly different than the text blocks because of their gold lettering to preface the illustration that is behind it. For example, there is a clear focused front-facing etching of Hablot K. Browne (widely known as “Phiz”), one of the main illustrators for Dickens. To guard his full-page illustration, in gold lettering on the tissue guard is information stating, “Etching by Adrian Marcel, from an unpublished photographer” (Dickens). This unique layer of protection serves the dual purpose of further adding onto the serialized novel of “Pickwick Papers”. Creating diverse and unique editions of books requires introducing new context alongside the historical artifact. In that same vein, the first tissue guard at the beginning of the second volume of “Pickwick” portrays an illustration of one of the main characters of the novel, Sam Weller. In his white hat and green vest, the gold writing reads back what are essential lines to the understanding of the character. The golden printing on the thin sheet of protection reads of a dialogue but also credits another the appropriate contributor to the illustration itself. Part of what is printed on the page reads, “Photogravure, by Felix O. C Darley. ‘Hallo,’ replied the man with the white hat” (Dickens). There is a direct correlation between the tissue guard as a form of preserving the physical condition of the key illustrations and etchings within the book, but as a refreshing way to introduce new details that are particular to this edition.
The text is written and printed in English. Originally being released as a serialized novel in what would eventually span twenty installments, it began in March of 1836 and would conclude in October of 1837. In a span of eighteen months, “Pickwick” became the landmark and iconic serialized novel that would captivate 19th century British readers. For publishers, the serialized format introduced a gateway to creating partnerships with other businesses by providing a platform for advertisements. Publishers had the ability to reach a wider audience due to the serialized format being intertwined with newspapers and magazines. Fast forwarding to the beginning of the 20th century, the technological advancements in print and illustration reproduction provided the avenue to mass produce and refine new editions of books. The content of the pages or story did not change but “… traditional texts were ceaselessly revised, adapted, translated, and changed in their physical aspect to bring them into line with the spirit of the times and to make them appeal to a specific public. The ‘staging’ of the written work – never stopped evolving” (Mak, 11). This Broadstairs Edition of Pickwick is an artifactual representation of the values of a capitalistic culture. As stated earlier and printed at the very beginning of the novel, this printed edition is impression number 101 of 250. In an American culture that was marked as the Progressive Era, there becomes a societal value of ownership of commodities. As such, the first serialized novel becomes more than a story by Charles Dickens but a representation of owning a key piece of historical importance. By owning a thoroughly upgraded and fully bound version of “Pickwick Papers”, Americans were able to possess the original serialized novel in its limited reprinted and unique capacity. Furthermore, as a literary society in the 20th century, Americans, like British citizens, were moving into the realm of reading for leisure.
This Broadstairs edition epitomized originality and a reutilization of Dicken’s work. The combination of the decorative illustration and etchings to accompany the story and the impression number of the edition give a value that can only be attributed to a consumer society, fixed on ownership. To possess a story that was historically important to the previous generation is what allowed publishers to handcraft unique editions with small tweaks such as the gold lettering tissue guards to further explain images and importance of the contributors to the ecosystem of Pickwick. These tissue guards are imperative pieces of this edition, and work as partners to the vivid illustrations to guide the consumer of the story. An example of this is the tissue guard in “The Pickwick Papers” that reads “Dismal Jemmy” by J. Clayton Clarke (‘Kyd’) and states “… strange man—all sorts of miseries—Dismal Jemmy, we call him on the circuit.” The illustration behind the guard stands alone, a daunting character with his arms crossed staring right at the reader. What the guard does is similar to a caption and captures the essence of who the character being shown is. Particular to this edition as well, it serves as a proper citation to who is responsible for the image, in this case Kyd, because Dickens did work with multiple illustrators for the images in Pickwick.
This 1912 edition of “The Pickwick Papers” carries significant context to understanding the complexity of the ecosystem of a book and that it is dependent on the underlying historical and social background it stems from. Reorganizing the contents of historically important books and bridging the gap across generations is what allows them to continue to be reproduced in new editions. The physical aspects that can be changed or improved are equally as important as any new content added from editors. The commodification of books goes hand in hand with commemorating, preserving, and reexamining precious historical artifact through contemporary lenses.