Serialised Books
Richard Bearne, Chairman and Head of the Books Department, discusses serialisaton
in newspapers as a popular publishing format, looking back to famous works such
as Charles Dicken's 'The Pickwick Paper's and George Eliot's 'Middlemarch' that
first appeared in this fashion.
Eight volumes of the first edition of George Eliot's 'Middlemarch' fetched £15,000
in our Book Sale on the 26th August 2015 (BK14/92).
It is not uncommon for important modern books to be serialised in newspapers before
wider publication. Political biographies are of especial interest but other books
too sometimes appear in this way.
Of course, by presenting a work like this, newspapers are hoping to attract more
readers, initially because of interest in the subject (anything promising to reveal
scandal is always a good bet - are you listening Lord Ashcroft?) and once the reader
is hooked then they are sure of buying subsequent editions for the next exciting
episode.
This, of course, is far from being a new idea: one of the most successful serialisations
ever was 'The Pickwick Papers' by Charles Dickens published in 20 monthly
parts during 1836 to 1837. These parts were priced at 1 shilling each, which had
the effect of ensuring a wider readership due to the modest cost and kept readers
hooked for the next issue.
Each issue usually had two illustrations and carried adverts. At the end of the
run one could if one wished pay to have the whole work bound in a volume and many
people did. Towards the end of the run, the publisher would produce their own bound
copy and these are known as "First editions in Book Form".
Nearly all Dickens major works were published in this way and the study of the various
different editions of the parts and which part carried particular advertisements
and which had particular printing errors is a whole area of study in itself, designed
to lead the purist to the very first edition of each part. A set of these is almost
invariably the most valuable version of a particular work.
Another author whose work appeared in this way was William Makepeace Thackeray
- his 'Vanity Fair' was published during 1847-1848 in exactly the same format as
Dickens's (ie: 20 parts with the last two being published simultaneously). The covers
were canary yellow so the public could easily notice when the next issue was out.
(Dickens was generally a green/blue colour.)
Some magazines were dedicated to publishing books in this way - the Strand Magazine
is a particularly famous example. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle famously publish
Sherlock Holmes short stories in it and when 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' was
serialised it led to queues of people outside the publisher's office waiting for
the next issue. Other authors who contributed to the Strand Magazine included Agatha
Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Rudyard Kipling and even
Winston Churchill.
One of the best known works to be published in separate parts is George Eliot's
masterpiece 'Middlemarch'. As she wrote the book, it became clear it was too long
for the traditional 3-volume format of the time and yet she didn't want it split
into 20 parts in the manner of Dickens or Thackeray. The compromise was to publish
it in eight two-monthy parts. This was not an entirely new idea as Victor Hugo's
'Les Miserables' had been published in a similar way.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Rare Book Auctions
- Charles Dickens
- William Makepeace Thackeray
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Agatha Christie
- Dorothy L Sayers
- Rudyard Kipling
- Winston Churchill
- George Eliot
- Victor Hugo
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