| Researcher | Author: Title | |
| Amanda Kennedy | Ferber, Edna: Saratoga Trunk | |
| Assignment 1: Bibliographic Description | ||
| 1. First Edition Publication Information | Edna Ferber, Saratoga Trunk. Published by Doubleday,
Doran & Company Inc. Garden City 1941, New York. Printed at The Country Life Press, Garden City, N.Y., U.S.A. Copyright, 1941, By Edna Ferber All Rights Reserved. | |
| 2. First Edition in Cloth, Paper, or Both? | American Edition 1941, hard cover.
Canadian Edition 1942 , William Heinemann Australian Edition 1942 Agnus & Roberston, William Heinemann British Edition 1059 Landsborough Publications | |
| 4. Pagination | 182 leaves, 352 pages of story, 364 pages altogether.
-Firm blank leaf at front and at the back. -One flyleaf in front and one in back, one in the front contains the title of the book Saratoga Trunk on the recto side of it and the verso side contains other books written by Edna Ferber. Back flyleaf is completely blank. -The chapters are numbered in Roman Numerals and are untitled. (ch. I-XIX). Pages are numbered with regular numbers on the top right hand corner of each page. page; the first page of the story is un-numbered. | |
| 5. Edited and/or Introduced? | Includes publisherís advertisement for other books by
Edna Ferber on the verso side of the front flyleaf. -No editor or introduction. ñNo dedication. | |
| 6. Illustrated? | Contains no illustrations | |
| 8. General Appearance | Readability is excellent. The book is in a larger print
than normal and the margins are large as well, making the book easy to read. There are no illustrations, chapters are numbered by Roman Numerals, and the first letter at the beginning of each chapter is in Roman scroll, uppercase and bold. There are no chapter titles. The book size is 200mm, and the text size is 3mm. The book that I have isn't attractive it is a hard covered blue book. It is dull and plain with no picture on the cover. Also looks very worn. | |
| 10. Description of Paper | The book is printed on wove paper, it is think and has yellowed over time and the edges are straight but worn and therefore are fraying.
It has blue trimmed edges and it smells of old musty basement. The pages seem somewhat rough, not glossy and smooth. Very dull, there are also no illustrations. The pages look evenly worn but they are in good condition, not torn or frayed (only a little on the edges,not through main of page). | |
| 11. Description of Binding | The binding is done in trade cloth. The covering is dotted line grain and the book is
blue and very dull. It looks somewhat woven.There is no picture on the cover, however there is a yellowish/gold stamp on the binding of the Doubleday logo. | |
| 12. Title Page Transcription | Recto- Edna Ferber| Saratoga Trunk| Doubleday,
Doran & Company Inc.| Garden City 1941 New York. Verso- Printed at The Country Life Press, Garden City, N.Y., U.S.A.| CL| Copyright, 1941, By Edna Ferber All Rights Reserved| first Edition After the Printing of a Limited Edition of Five Hundred and Sixty-Two Copies| | |
| 14. Manuscript Holdings | none found thus far. | |
| Assignment 2: Publication History | ||
| 1. Other Editions: | n/a | |
| 4. First Edition printings or impressions? | there were 562 limited edition copies released in 1941. | |
| 5. Editions from other publishers? | Garden City N.Y., Doubleday, Doran & Company inc. 1941
Garden City N.Y.m Doubleday, Doran & Company inc. 1951 Boston: G.K. Hall, 1981 Copyright 1941 New Yoork; McFadden Books, 1963, copyright 1941 New York; Grosset & Dunlop 1941 New York, N.Y., Perennial 2000, copyright 1941 Cleveland Ohio, World 1946 copyright 1941 New York; Fawcett Crest, 1969 New York, Penguin Books 1947 ~~consulted Worldcat database for this info. | |
| 6. Last date in print? | September 1 2000.
Published by Harper Collins Publishers U.S $14.01, Can $22.23 ~~consulted Whitaker's Books In Print database for this info. | |
| 7. Total copies sold? | unsure, looked at numerous sources and could not locate a
total number of copies sold. | |
| 8. Sales by year? | unable to locate this info after consulting numerous sources. | |
| 9. Advertising copy: | n/a | |
| 11. Other promotion? | Saratoga Trunk was advertised in Publisher's Weekly, The New York Times, as well as Time Magazine. All three magazines printed when the book was to be released and they also posted reviews once the book was released. Other than that no other promotion was found. | |
| 12. Performances in other media? | Robinson, Casey. Saratoga Trunk screenplay.
published in Burbank California: Warner Brothers, 1942. Movie version. 1945 starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman. ~~consulted RLIN database (bibliographical file on web), for this info.` | |
| 13. Translations? | Saratoga/ Roman trad. de l'anglais par Michel Epuy.
pub: Geneve, J.H. Jeheber S.A. 1943 (Swiss National Library) Saratoga; Roman. Ubertragung von Hermynia Zur Muhlen. Zurich , Steinberg 1947. 398p. 21cm Saratoga; Roman. Ubertragung von Hernynia Zur Muhlen. Zurich, Steinberg. 1953. 366p. 21cm ~~consulted National Union Catalog for this info. Saratoga; Romanzo. Traduzione di Fluffy Mazzucuto. 1st ed. Milano, IEI, 1946. 431p. 22cm. | |
| 14. Serialization? | n/a looked on worldcat for this info. | |
| 15. Sequels or Prequels? | n/a | |
| Assignment 3: Brief Biography | ||
|
Edna Ferber was born into the hands of her father Jacob Ferber and her mother Julia Neumann Ferber on August 15, 1885 in Kalamazoo Michigan. Her father was a Hungarian-born Jewish store keeper and her mother was straight from Milwaukee. Edna spent a great portion of her early years in Chicago as well as Ottunwa Iowa before she and her family moved to Appleton Wisonscin, where she would grow up and start her career. Edna was 12 years old when her family moved to Appleton Wi. Her father owned and operated a general store called "My Store" this is where Edna put in some time learning the ropes of business. Edna's family was not very well off and therefore she learned that hard work was the only way that she would be able to help her parents out of debt. So Edna soon to be fasinating career began early, when she took on the role and "personal and local" editor of her high school newspaper, the Ryan Clariol. Growing up as a young Jewish girl Edna had perhaps double vision on what America was like. "Edna Ferber, popular and prolific novelist, short-story writer, autobiographer, and dramatic collaborator with George S. Kauffman, is remembered chiefly as a chronicler and critic of American cultural history- the bulk f her fiction having a strong regional focus- and for the presence in her writing of intelligent and resourceful female protagonists" (Dictionary of Literary Biography, p307). This little exerpt remains true throughout many of Ferber's novels and especially in Saratoga Trunk. Edna focuses on the region of New Orleans as well as Saratoga Springs, hence relating back to her need to place herself in America and reveal her duel vison of it from that place. Saratoga Trunk links with Ferber's own life in the sense that she was a young ambitious woman who wanted to be successful as does Clio Dulaine in the novel. In looking though biographies of Edna Ferber I came across a parallel between Ferber and Saratoga Trunk's Clio Dulaine: " Ferber was by all accounts, a difficult woman-stubborn, vain, cantankerous, impatient, a surprisingly well adjusted megalomaniac.... Her relationship with her family was strained throughout her life, yet Ferber ws always proud of her middle-class, mid-western, American-Jewish roots. These attributes, she felt, enabled her to imagine vividly the America and Americans about whom she wrote" (Dictionary of Literary Biography vol86).I found this quote rather compelling because ferber used her Jewish background to view America and critique it. She had the advantage of a double vision, similarly Clio Dulaine was able to utilize a double vision in Saratoga Trunk as well. Clio Dulaine although American was raised in France and therefore know the european culture better than that of America. Although her mother and aunt were exiled which placed strain on the family Clio remained true to her roots. Once coming to America Clio maintained her French roots but used them with caution. She was able to immerse herself within the American culture in order to fully understand it yet she was also like Ferber in being able to keep it at arms length and criticize it as an outsider. The strong character suggested of Ferber is also prominent in her female character Clio. Another pattern found in many of Ferber's novels (and Saratoga Trunk)that come directly from her own life is that of the relationship her female characters have with the male characters. "Ferber's parents' relationship forms the autobiographical basus for a pattern inher fiction in which strong, practical, farsighted women are married to men of lesser intelligence and adaptability, or to men of brilliant but unfocuse, unreliable, and essentially unproductive energies" (Dictionary of Literary Biography vol9). This aspect of Ferber's life pertains to Clio Dulaine and her ability to be an actress and adapt to whatever situation she is in. More importantly though it reveals the strong mind of both Ferber and Clio, and their ability to use men regardless of what category they fall into, to their direct benefit. Throughout Saratoga Trunk we see Clio stunningly beautiful followed by men and she choosed when she wants to use them and when she doesn't. Although I was unable to find accounts of what ferber was doing in her life during the time she wrote Saratoga Trunk I believe that these paralles realate directly to Saratoga Trunk as well as to numerous other novels that follow some similar patterns. Edna Ferber composed her fiction with relation to her own experiences in the world while growing up. In Saratoga Trunk we see the desire to have money as Ferber desired to become successful, the desire to be independent of men as Ferber was, and the ability to view America from two different perspectives, something that Ferber was proud she was able to do. GENERAL OVERVIEW BIORAPHY Ferber attended Ryan High School where she excelled in writing. At the conclusion of her senior year at Ryan High Ferber was offered a reporting postion with the Appleton Daily Cresent. Where she would receive $3.00 per week for her duties. Ferber was later fired from the Cresent and then moved on to write for the Milwaukee Journal. It was here that it is said she worked so hard that she sometimes fainted at work due to exhaustion. It was around this time that Ferber became sick with anemia. While, back at home recovering from anemia she wrote her first short story and her first novel. In 1910 her short story entitled "The Homely Heroine" was published by "Everybody's Magazine". Her novel entitled "Dawn O'Hara" ( story of a newspaper woman in Milwaukee) followed in being published in 1911. Ferber gained national recognition for her series 'emma McChesney" stories, which were published in national magazines. Her first play "Our Mrs.McChesney" was produced in 1913 starring Ethel Barrymore. Ferber won a Pulitzer Prize in 1924 for "So Big" which sold 300,000 copies Altogether she wrote 2 autobiographies, 13 novels, 8 plays, and numerous short story series. Her novel "Show Boat" was made into a broadway musical and into 3 motion pictures. "So Big" and "Giant" were also made into movies; Giant starred Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson and it was James Dean's last movie. Her two autobiographies were entitled "A perculiar Treasure" and "A Kind of Magic" published in 1939 and 1963. Edna Ferber lost a battle against cancer and passed away at the age of 82 on April 16, 1968. Ms. Ferber was never married, and she passed on her belongings to her sister and niece. Her Park Avenue home was were she took her fial breaths. sources: (both websites were located by going to google, searching under Edna Ferber, and using the first and third websites) * http://www.us.israel.org/jsource/biography/ferber.html * http://www.apl.org/history/ferber * Dictionary for Literary Biography. Vol 9: American Novelists, 1910-1945. Part 1: Adamic-Fisher. (p.306). * Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol 86: American Short-Story writers, 1910-1945. First Series. (p.91). * Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol 28: Twentieth-Century American-Jewish Fiction Writers. (p.59). | ||
| Assignment 4 | ||
| Contemporary Reception: | ||
| After looking through some indexes to find which magazines
contained reviews of Edna Ferber's Saratoga Trunk I found that there were mixed reviews. Most review said that the book was romantic and flighty, but that it didn't contain exact resemblance as to what America was like at the time she set the novel in. Most of the criticism was based around the book being too extravagant and boldly against societal norms. "But it is the development of this story that troubles me: in it I miss Edna Ferber's homely knowledge of city and country; I think she lost the chance to play up our special brand of integrity, and at the end I am left wondering if the author really cares deeply for any of the people in this book" Edward Weeks, Atlantic Monthly December 1941. "The novel wears too much make-up: Clio is play-acting too often, Clint is too stagey a Texan, and the millionaires at Saratoga are comedians--not people of power. Despite Mrs. Bellop's breezy candor, despite the delectable food and the charming clothes, despite Clio's Parisian turn of phrase, there is throughout an unmistakable trace of musical comedy in this prose." Edward Weeks, Atlantic Monthly December 1941. Mr. Weeks doesn't seem too impressed with Ferber's racy and extravagant interpretation of the 1880' in New Orleans and Saratoga, but rather disgusted at the lack of seriousness this book portrays history with. Kay Boyle's review in The New Republic simply states that she Ferber's Saratoga Trunk will receive more attention than it should and that it will be made into a movie with in one year. She claims that other books that are better will receive less attention than Ferber's novel and she claims that there isn't a single likeable character within Saratoga trunk. "I.A.R Wylie's Strangers Are Coming and Edna Ferber's Saratoga Trunk, however, are both far less worthy of attention than Miss Swados' House of Fury, and they will undoubtedly get more." "Miss Ferber and Miss Wylie are doing what they can to animate history in a shallow, witty, very able way." "There is not a single loveable character between Miss Ferber's covers, which is something;" "But loveable or not, you'll doubtless see them all on the screen within the coming year." Kay Boyle The New Republic November 24, 1941. p.708 However, there were also alarming number of positive reviews to Edna Ferber's Saratoga Trunk. Most of thes commented on the fact that the story portrayed the unbringing of America in a romantacized way. Most critcs loved the romance aspect as well as the sheer level of flashy entertainment. "One closes Saratoga Trunk with the feeling of having lived in a rich and excelling world. peopled by fascinating and exciting characters no less real because they are eccentric and romantic. The secret to Miss Ferber's achievement is rooted in many things-- her vitality, and belief in the people, she creates; her meticulous care with all the details of background and characteri- ation; her unfalling sense of drama." Rose Feld Books, Novemeber 2, 1941. p.5 "It is absorbing entertainment. There's everything in it but the kitchen stove-- no that's in too, and the New Orleans and Saratoga dishes cooked on it will make your mouth water...Miss Ferber serves up some very nice phrases too." Fairfax Downey Saturday Review of Literature. Nov 24, 1941 p.18 " Miss Ferber's noisy flashing manner never really gives you a period, but always makes you enjoy the fraud. Saratoga Trunk is so neatly made that the scenarists need only bracket the non- dialogue as stage direction, and call it a half-day's work." Time, November 24, 1941 p.112. " This glimpse of America in the making, romanticized to be sure, but none the less worthwhile because it is written to catch the public fancy. Clio and Clint are dynamic and fascinating characters but the world in which was their proscenium is more fascinating still." Springfield Republican Novemeber 2, 1941 "The author draws a sound, truly patriotic moral from her story but it won't disturb anyone excessively. As flashing and agreeable a yarn as Miss Ferber has fashioned for some time, it should be a walkaway for La Dietrich and Mr. Gary Cooper. It has already been printed in Cosmopolitan." Clifton Fadiman The New Yorker, Nov 8, 1941 p.78 | ||
| Subsequent Reception: | ||
| so far none found. | ||
| Assignment 5 | ||
| Critical Essay: | ||
|
Assignment #5 ENTC 312 Saratoga Trunk by Edna Ferber, published in 1941 achieved bestseller status soon after it was released, and it remains a great read today. The story of a young New Orleans girls brought up in Paris, who get swept off her feet by a handsome rough Texan , simply can’t be denied greatness. The pattern in which Ferber chose to write Saratoga Trunk in is perhaps one of the elements that made the book what it is. Ferber opened the book by telling us that the Clio Dulaine and Clint Maroon end up married and wealthy, however, what makes us read on is that Ferber sets us up to hear about all the adventures that the two encountered before ending up together and in love. This pattern was vital to the success of this novel only because it gave the reader the opportunity to experience each event, each obstacle, and feel as though they were there going through all the excitement. I think that there are three elements that aided in Ferber achieving bestseller status with Saratoga Trunk The first being that it contained elements of her own life within it, but only enough as to make the main character strong, it brought hope for women and men in terms of achieving a good financially secure lifestyle, and lastly, it provided women of the 1940’s with a view of the world as their own. It gave them the knowledge to challenge social norms, go after what they want, and to be independent. While Edna Ferber never married in her lifetime she certainly had romantic relations with a few men whom she was very close with (Literary Dictionary of Biography). Ferber maintained a strong personality and work ethic, which she mastered very early on while helping her father, run his general store. Ferber, received a job as a reporter straight out of high school and although she was fired soon thereafter she was relentless and sought out another job in her same field. These traits are eminent in Clio Dulaine, Ferber's main character in Saratoga Trunk. Clio is proud , strong mined, bold, and willing to work hard to get what she wants. Although I do not think that Clio is a modified Ferber, I do feel that Ferber’s characteristics are prominent in her as well as most of her other main female characters. Sprung from two different backgrounds but maintaining the same goals are a twist that unlatches the total parallel of Ferber and Dulaine. Ferber came from a not so well off Jewish family and Dulaine came from a fairly wealthy family full of lineage. The most powerful link between the two however, is their severe need to remain powerful over men. Dulaine, after a grand fight against her emotions and everyone around here ends up marrying, however it wasn’t until she really had to. Ferber on the other hand never married, but Dulaine is perhaps an image of what Ferber possibly wanted but couldn’t achieve. The persistent chase for success, recognition, and power, are qualities that Ferber possessed herself and in which she gave Clio. These three qualities in Clio are what drive Saratoga Trunk from start to finish; we want to see her achieve these things. The second element that I think made Saratoga Trunk a bestseller was that it was written during a time when woman were supposed to be seen and not heard. They were supposed to be totally dependent on men, and dutiful to them as well. In Saratoga trunk the tables are somewhat turned and social norms are challenged. Clio Dulaine , has two servants of her own, she travels wherever she wants, she wears lots of make-up and extravagant clothes. More important ly, she mingles with multiple men, draws up schemes, tells men what she will and won’t do and when she is going to do it. Furthermore, Mrs. Bellop runs (one could say) the great United States Hotel, a position that a women would not typically hold especially during the 1940’s, and she is the most powerful woman throughout Saratoga. Mrs.Bellop is so powerful and manipulative that even the men listen to her and do as she says. The women in this book definitely run the show, and that is where the book becomes the most exciting. Both Clio Dulaine and Mrs.Bellop ability to manipulate and make scandals give best selling quality to the book. When first reading the book one thinks that it is just going to be a normal romance where the man saves the woman and marries her and provides her with everything. However, once into the book it is clear that man and woman save each other, and that it isn’t a romantic story because the characters are using one another for the betterment of themselves. Critics received Saratoga Trunk, equally, as being good and bad. There were a good number of reviews that said the book was romantic and flighty, but that it didn’t contain exact resemblance as to what America was like at the time she set the novel in. Most of the bad criticism was based around the book being too extravagant and boldly against social norms: “But it is the development of this story that troubles me: in it I miss Edna Ferber’s homely knowledge of city and country; I think she lost the chance to play up our special brand of integrity, and at the end I am left wondering if the author really cares deeply for any of the people in this book” (Edward Weeks, Atlantic Monthly). More so the one thing that I believe gave Saratoga Trunk best selling status was it’s hilarity and extravagance, its ability to imagine a world of success, wealth, overwhelming beauty, and female power, is one of the things that the critics said they hated about the book. “ The novel wears too much make-up: Clio is play-acting too often, Clint is too stagey a Texan, and the millionaires at Saratoga are comedians—not people of power. Despite Mrs.Bellop’s breezy candor, despite the delectable food and the charming clothes, despite Clio’s Parisian turn of phrase, there is throughout an unmistakable trace of musical comedy in this prose” (Edward Weeks, Atlantic Monthly). Mr. Weeks, is not impressed with the racy way Ferber portrays the 1880’s in New Orleans and Saratoga, he is appalled that she paid so little detail to the true history of the two cities. However, a bestseller obviously isn’t a bestseller because it is like all the other novels, it sets itself apart and this is what Ferber did. Saratoga Trunk doesn’t fall into the bestsellers category simply on it’s own merit however. Feber had many best selling novels previous to the release of Saratoga Trunk, which I believe helped Ferber in capturing best-selling status with (in my mind) a mediocre bestseller. Considering the drastic difference in the reception of the novel I think it is fair to say that the story line was not perhaps what was so popular, but rather the blunt challenge to social norms. Critics were upset about the outright bluntness of the female characters others were intrigued by it, but in the same breath many critics were appalled by the blatant disregard for historical accuracy. I think that Ferber was able to achieve best-selling status with Saratoga Trunk because of her careful mixture of risk and ignorance. Overall, Ferber's success with Saratoga Trunk can in my mind also be attributed from Ferber writing from the heart and using her personal characteristics to develop real characters. I think that the strong female roles within Saratoga Trunk come directly from Ferber herself and they are essential what make this book so readable. Sources: Contemporary Literary Criticism. ALD. REF. PN771.C59 Vol. 93, 1996. Time. AP2.T37 Copy 2. Vol 138. Oct-Dec 1941. (Nov 24) http://www.us.israel.org/jsource/biography/ferber.html. http://www.apl.org/history/ferber. Atlantic Monthly. AP2.A8 Copy 2 Vol 168 1941. The New Republic. AP2.N64 Copy 2. Vol 105. 1941. The New Yorker. AP2.N6763 Vol 17. (Nov 8) (Aug 1941-Feb 1942). The Saturday Review of Literature. Z1219.S25 | ||
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