Pegasus in Harness : Victorian publishing and W.M. Thackeray /Peter L Shillingsburg

By: Shillingsburg, Peter LContributor(s): Shillingsburg, Peter LMaterial type: TextTextPublisher number: :Variety Books Publishers & Distributors | :B-10 Street No 2 West Vinod Nagar Delhi 110092 Series: Victorian literature and culture seriesPublication details: Charlottesville, :University Press of Virginia, 1992Description: xi, 301 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmISBN: 0813913977Subject(s): English Literatures | English fiction | Old English Literatures | Novelists, English -- 19th century -- Economic conditions | Novelists, English -- 19th century -- Economic conditionsGenre/Form: Thackeray, William Makepeace, -- 1811-1863.DDC classification: 823.8 SHI
Contents:
Acknowledgments -- A Note on Sources -- Introduction (starting p. 1) -- I The Man of Business (starting p. 15) -- II The Literary Tradesman (starting p. 33) -- III The Writer as a Literary Property (starting p. 69) -- IV Working the Copyrights (starting p. 110) -- V Book Production (starting p. 146) -- VI The Artist and the Marketplace (starting p. 200) -- VII An Epilogue on Prefaces (starting p. 221) -- App. A. The Contracts (starting p. 231) -- App. B. A Census of Imprints to 1865 (starting p. 242) -- App. C. Vanity Fair (starting p. 266) -- App. D. The History of Samuel Titmarsh (starting p. 284) -- App. E. The History of Pendennis (starting p. 287) -- Works Cited (starting p. 290) -- Index (starting p. 295)
Summary: In this fresh look at the relationship between an author and his publishers, Peter L. Shillingsburg reassesses W.M. Thackeray's writing within the context of the Victorian marketplace. He explores the forces under which Thackeray wrote and addresses the broader question of the extent to which authors are free to invent their books given the influences of theoretical trends and the publishing marketplace. Rejecting both the Romantic notion of the autonomous genius and the Marxist concept of social and economic determinism, Shillingsburg presents a concept of the artist as being, simultaneously, bound and free, a "Pegasus in harness.""--BOOK JACKET. "In addition to being an intense examination of the contractual relations between Thackeray and several publishers, Pegasus in Harness is a veritable compendium of information about Victorian book production, publishing, and bookselling. Shillingsburg's analysis of book production is an example of original research that goes far beyond anything currently available. His documentation includes extensive quotations from 350 unpublished letters between Thackeray and his publishers and copies of all the surviving contracts for Thackeray's books."--BOOK JACKET. "Contrary to popular opinion about Thackeray, Shillingsburg portrays him as a thoroughly professional writer. He traces Thackeray's economic progression and unfolds the development of Thackeray's notion of authorship as a dignified trade in which compromises were constantly being struck between the aspirations of the author and the realities of the marketplace. In this assessment, the social and contractual forces that both enabled and limited the writing and publishing of books influenced but did not control the artist."--BOOK JACKET. "A synthesis of theory, history, biography, and sociology, this book looks at the ways in which literary texts are created, published, and marketed and explores how they can be shaped by the cultural conditions surrounding their creation."--Jacket
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Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Books Books SNU LIBRARY
823.8 SHI (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Not For Loan 26135
Total holds: 0

Acknowledgments --
A Note on Sources --
Introduction (starting p. 1) --
I The Man of Business (starting p. 15) --
II The Literary Tradesman (starting p. 33) --
III The Writer as a Literary Property (starting p. 69) --
IV Working the Copyrights (starting p. 110) --
V Book Production (starting p. 146) --
VI The Artist and the Marketplace (starting p. 200) --
VII An Epilogue on Prefaces (starting p. 221) --
App. A. The Contracts (starting p. 231) --
App. B. A Census of Imprints to 1865 (starting p. 242) --
App. C. Vanity Fair (starting p. 266) --
App. D. The History of Samuel Titmarsh (starting p. 284) --
App. E. The History of Pendennis (starting p. 287) --
Works Cited (starting p. 290) --
Index (starting p. 295)

In this fresh look at the relationship between an author and his publishers, Peter L. Shillingsburg reassesses W.M. Thackeray's writing within the context of the Victorian marketplace. He explores the forces under which Thackeray wrote and addresses the broader question of the extent to which authors are free to invent their books given the influences of theoretical trends and the publishing marketplace. Rejecting both the Romantic notion of the autonomous genius and the Marxist concept of social and economic determinism, Shillingsburg presents a concept of the artist as being, simultaneously, bound and free, a "Pegasus in harness.""--BOOK JACKET. "In addition to being an intense examination of the contractual relations between Thackeray and several publishers, Pegasus in Harness is a veritable compendium of information about Victorian book production, publishing, and bookselling. Shillingsburg's analysis of book production is an example of original research that goes far beyond anything currently available. His documentation includes extensive quotations from 350 unpublished letters between Thackeray and his publishers and copies of all the surviving contracts for Thackeray's books."--BOOK JACKET. "Contrary to popular opinion about Thackeray, Shillingsburg portrays him as a thoroughly professional writer. He traces Thackeray's economic progression and unfolds the development of Thackeray's notion of authorship as a dignified trade in which compromises were constantly being struck between the aspirations of the author and the realities of the marketplace. In this assessment, the social and contractual forces that both enabled and limited the writing and publishing of books influenced but did not control the artist."--BOOK JACKET. "A synthesis of theory, history, biography, and sociology, this book looks at the ways in which literary texts are created, published, and marketed and explores how they can be shaped by the cultural conditions surrounding their creation."--Jacket

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