| Researcher | Author: Title | |
| Tim Herby | Locke, William J.: The Fortunate Youth | |
| Assignment 1: Bibliographic Description | ||
| 1. First Edition Publication Information | New York, NY, and London, UK: John Lane Company, 1914 (released March 27th)
Described is the First American Edition | |
| 2. First Edition in Cloth, Paper, or Both? | Cloth | |
| 3. Image of Cover Art | A1319980202143817.jpg | |
| 4. Pagination | pp. 1-352, 7-3/4" X 5-1/4" (19.5cm X 13cm)
36 lines of text per page | |
| 5. Edited and/or Introduced? | No | |
| 6. Illustrated? | Illustrated by Arthur I. Keller, 8 Black & White Illustrations | |
| 7. Sample Illustration | A1719980202143817.jpg | |
| 8. General Appearance | The book appears to be well printed. The text is easy to read in an 11pt (approx.) serif font (posibly Ronaldson, source: A Field Guide to the Faces http://ivory.lm.com/~mundie/Typography/Faces.html). The page margins are large, and the pages are uncluttered, although there are 36 lines of text per page (except the first and last of chapters). The first word of each chapter is capitalized with the first letter a three-line dropped capital. | |
| 9. Image of Sample Chapter Page | A1919980410001536.jpg | |
| 10. Description of Paper | Printed on unwatermarked white paper, fairly thick, possibly 24lbs. It appears to be of good quality, and to have held up over time. The paper is still strong, although slightly darkened. The pages are cut cleanly, and all pages, including the end pages are of the same stock. | |
| 11. Description of Binding | Bound in green cloth. On spine, lettering gilt: THE | FORTUNATE | YOUTH | [gilt horseshoe emblem] | LOCKE | JOHN LANE | COMPANY. Cover, gilt lettering: [gilt horseshoe emblem] | THE | FORTUNATE | YOUTH | [gilt horseshoe emblem] | WILLIAM J. LOCKE. The title is surrounded by stylized vine leaves (total: 8), in a lighter shade of green than the cover. Next to the bottom two leaves are the letters "F" on the left side, and "H" on the right.
The pages are bound by stitching. | |
| 12. Title Page Transcription | THE | FORTUNATE YOUTH | BY | WILLIAM J. LOCKE | ILLUSTRATIONS | BY | ARTHUR I. KELLER | NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY | LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD | TORONTO: BELL & COCKBURN | MCMXIV | |
| 13. Image of Title Page | A11319980202143817.jpg | |
| 14. Manuscript Holdings | Locke's Manuscripts: Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin
Locke's Papers: Wakefield College, University of London Source: James South (j.south@mail.utexas.edu) Cataloguing Dept. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center University of Texas at Austin | |
| 15. Other | The Title page is printed in a serif font, all capital lettering.
Contents: p. (1) ht: THE FORTUNATE YOUTH p. (2) [list of 16 books, all written before this title (ie. first edition)] BY THE SAME AUTHOR [centered in a boxed border] p. (3) title page [facing page is illustration from p. 184] p. (4) copyright notice p. (5) ILLUSTRATIONS [see below] p. (6) blank p. (7) title p. (8) blank p. (9) text p. (352) END Illustrations by Arthur I. Keller: Frontispiece: "Perhaps if you asked me prettily," she said, "I might come and hear you speak" Facing page 44 They both ate for a long while in silence, dangling their legs Facing page 60 The artist started and for the first time became conscious of the ragamuffin's presence Facing page 122 He threw out his hands towards her, tripped over the border of grass, and fell in a sprawling heap at her feet Facing page 194 It was a fighting, enthusiastic, hyperbolic speech, glowing with the divine fire of youth Facing page 210 As he shook hands Paul met the sorrowful liquid eyes fixed on him with strange earnestness Facing page 234 And the gondola would glide away into fairyland Facing page 346 "The mystery of my life is solved at last" | |
| Assignment 2: Publication History | ||
| 1. Other Editions: | First British Edition: 1914, John Lane First Canadian Version: 1914, Bell & Cockburn First Australian Version: The Bodley Head The works of William J. Locke. Autograph edition. [London] : John Lane, The Bodley Head, [1926]. Reprint: 1914, New York, Dodd, Mean and Company Reprint: 1914, New York Grosset & Dunlap Publishers Cheap Edition: 1920 Reprint: 1921, London & New York, John Lane Reprint: 1921, John Lane, c1913 N.Y. Dodd, Mead popular crown: 8vo edition 1923 autograph edition: 1926 cheap edition: The New York, Dodd & Mead 1927, c1913 Cheap edition: Crown 8vo edition, May, 1937 (2 shilling, 6 pence) For further detailed descriptions of some of these editions, see "Supplemental Materials" | |
| 4. First Edition printings or impressions? | 2 reprintings of first edition, listed above All versions, except for probably the cheap edition and the collected works are from the same printer's sheets, except that the first gathering has been reset in each case. (however the two aforementioned editions were not available for observation). | |
| 5. Editions from other publishers? | Other publishers were involved, but it appears in cooperation with John Lane. For details, see "Other Editions" above. | |
| 6. Last date in print? | 1937 (Judging by the Last book found (see above)) Source: James South (j.south@mail.utexas.edu) Cataloguing Dept. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center University of Texas at Austin | |
| 7. Total copies sold? | No quantitative information available, but qualitatively: this book was on the top of the Bookman's bestseller list for two consecutive months (June, July, 1914), and appeared on the list for three months thereafter. Although it lasted for a shorter time, it was more popular at its peak than even "Polyana." (source: The Bookman, December, 1914) | |
| 8. Sales by year? | No Information Available (see above, question 7 for details about popularity) Total Sales probably equaled the sales for 1914. | |
| 9. Advertising copy: | Add 1: ********************************************************** PUBLISHING EVENT NO. 3 MARCH 27TH LOCKE'S BEST NOVEL SINCE "The Beloved Vagabond" THE FORTUNATE YOUTH A Great Romance of Life and Love and Valor. Eight Illustrations and Jacket Picture by Arthur I. Keller Large 12mo. Cloth, $1.35 net. MARK THE DATES ON YOUR CALENDAR AND ORDER EARLY JOHN LANE COMPANY, NEW YORK ********************************************************** This add was found in the February 7th, 1914 issue of "The Publishers' Weekly" Add 2: ******************************************************************* 1914's FIRST BIG NOVEL ---------------------- READY MARCH 27th [stylized cover title logo]THE|FORTUNATE|YOUTH|WILLIAM J. LOCKE <>This is the best novel Mr. Locke has yet written. His "Beloved Vagabond" is the only thing that can be compared with it. <>Introducing the most lovable hero in all Locke's gallery of lovable characters. <>To a ragamuffin slum boy is vouchsafed a Vision Splendid that raises his soul above his grubby surroundings. Thereafter, possessed with the idea that the future holds for him a glorious destiny, he presses forward undauntedly to the achievement of his great ambitions. With 8 illustrations, jacket picture and poster by ARTHUR I. KELLER. Large 12mo. Decorative Cloth. $1.35 net. MARK THE DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR AND ORDER EARLY JOHN LANE COMPANY, New York ******************************************************************* This add was found in the March 14th, 1914 issue of "The Publishers' Weekly" Add 3 ************************************************************ AT YOUR BOOKSELLER'S TODAY The Fortunate Youth [written in a giant clover] WILLIAM J. LOCKE'S NEW NOVEL <>Mr. Locke has never written a more delightful story; his "Beloved Vagabond" is the only thing that an be compared with it. <>"The Fortunate Youth" has the magic of pure romance and the dramatic qualities that are a part of life's experiences when a man rises to great heights from poverty, oppression and mystery. Mr. Locke depicts a new sort of vagabond -- Paul, a slum child whose only fortune is his extraordinary physical beauty. This beauty helps Paul to win his way up- ward in the social scale, and on his path he passes through various strata of Bohemia -- the caravan, the studio and hte stage -- to the fulfilment [spelling mistake present in the add] of his splendid destiny. With 8 illustrations by ARTHUR I. KELLER Large 12 mo. Decorative Cloth. $1.35 net JOHN LANE COMPANY NEW YORK ************************************************************ This add was found in the March 29th, 1914 issue of The New York Times Review of Books (Literary Section of the New York Times) Across from a review of this book. [see attached photo] | |
| 10. Image of sample advertisement | A21019980219180613.jpg | |
| 11. Other promotion? | N/A | |
| 12. Performances in other media? | N/A | |
| 13. Translations? | Spanish: Un joven afortunado /[tr. by] Alejancro Frrias Giraud. Barcelona ; Madrid : Sociedad de publicaciiones, c1926. Source: James South (j.south@mail.utexas.edu) Cataloguing Dept. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center University of Texas at Austin | |
| 14. Serialization? | "It was serialized in a publication of The Butterick Publishing Company called The Delineator from June 1913 to February 1914." Source: James South (j.south@mail.utexas.edu) Cataloguing Dept. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center University of Texas at Austin | |
| 15. Sequels or Prequels? | N/A | |
| Assignment 3: Brief Biography | ||
| William John Locke was born March 20th, 1863, in Demerara, British Guiana. An English man, he was the son of a Banker. Educated at Queen's Royal College, Trinidad, and Cambridge, he went on to be a schoolmaster at Clifton and then at Glenaldmond from 1890 to 1897. Finding this line of work uncongenial, he became the secretary to the Royal Institute of British Architects for ten years.
Locke published his first novel, "At the gate of Samaria", in 1894, at the age of 31. His first major success was "The Morals of Marcus Ordene" (1905) and, probably his most famous, "The Beloved Vagabond" (1906). Below is a listing of most of his novels, and stories. He also wrote a number of unpublished plays, some of which were based on his novels. Locke published "The Fortunate Youth" in 1914, and it became a very popular, staying at the top of the Bookman charts for two consecutive months (June, July, 1914), but was short-lived. Although it lasted for a shorter time, it was more popular during its peak than even "Polyana" was at the same time.
James South Locke died on May 15th, 1930 at the age of 67. Today, information about him and his books is scarce, his popularity having faded away. [biography sources, mostly from: Everyman's Dictionary of Literary Biography, The New Century Handbook of English Literature, The Reader's Encyclopedia. Quote from email correspondance with James South, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin] Major Works: At the gate of Samaria (1894) The demagogue and Lady Phayre (1895) A study in shadows (1896) Derelicts (1897) Idols (1898) The White dove (1900) The usurper (1902) Where love is (1903) The morals of Marcus Ordeyne (1905) The beloved vagabond (1906) Flower o' the rose: a romantic play (1909) Septimus (1909) A Christmas mystery: the study of three wise men (1910) Simon the jester (1910) The glory of Clementina (1911) The joyous adventures of Aristide Pujol (1912) Stella maris (1913) The fortunate Youth (1914) Jaffery (1915) Morals for the young (1915) Far-away stories (1916) Viviette (1916) The wonderful year (1916) The red planet (1917) The rough road (1918) The house of Baltazar (1920) The apostle (1921) The mountebank (1921) The tale of Triona (1922) Moordius & Co. (1923) The coming of Amos (1924) The golden journey of Mr. Paradyne (1924) The great Pandolfo (1925) The old bridge (1926) Stories near and far (1926) The kingdom of Theophilus (1927) Joshua's vision (1928) Ancestor Jorico (1929) The town of Tombarel (1930) The shorn Lamb (1930) [Book list extracted from: The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature, edited by I.R. Willison, Volume 4, 1900-1950] | ||
| Assignment 4 | ||
| Contemporary Reception: | ||
| "The Fortunate Youth" was a book reluctantly accepted as deserving its praise. Most critics characterized it as a being "in Locke's best manner" (1), but do not fail to praise him as "the great wizard of plausibility," (2) in a backhanded type of compliment. There are no negative reviews for this book. Although most observe, with an ironic tone, how Paul Kegsworthy, the main character, has "the beauty of a young Greek god," (3) "which is destined to be a big asset." (2)
"Mr. Locke's 'Fairy Tale'" (3) as it is nicknamed, supports itself purely through the popular acceptance of the time. The Publishers' Weekly predicts that it will succeed through its charm:
Many reviewers discussed Locke's lack of credibility in his story. However, this was generally accepted as simply being part of Locke, and therefore, not viewed very negatively:
Not all reviews agreed on Locke's skills as a magician, but all accepted his book freely. The easy going nature of the book certainly contributed to its short popularity. "The defect of this story is that it is an unmitigated fairy story, and a fairy story ought to be mitigated occasionally by a little touch of adversity." (5) By being entirely positive, entirely straightforward, without allowing for conflict, Locke gave his audience of the time what it wanted: a fairy tale. But he did not create a piece of literature with continuing value. So, despite a warm welcome, the subtle ironic contempt shown by the reviewers was justified. They simply could not vocalize their feelings before the book rose and fell from its success. Quoted Review Sources: (1) Saturday Review, 3/28/1914, 117:407, quoted in 1914 Book Review Digest (2) Bookman, April, 1914, 39:217 (3) New York Times Review of Books, 3/29/1914: 19:141 (4) The Publishers' Weekly, 3/21/1914, 85:1062 (5) The Outlook, 5/30/1914, 107:264 Other Reviews: - Book Review Digest, 1914 - Review of Reviews, May, 1914, 49:627 - The Dial, 5/16/1914, 56:423 - Literary Digest, 5/9/1914, 48:1119 - A. L. A. Booklist, 5/14/1914, 10:372 - Athenaeum, 3/28/1914, 1:sup467 - Boston Transcript, 3/25/1914, p24 - Independent, 7/13/1914, 79:73 - Spectator, 5/16/1914, 112:837 - Springfield Republican, 4/16/1914, p5 | ||
| Subsequent Reception: | ||
| It appears that this book was very popular at its onset, but its was a short life. No further reviews of this book, after its first booming summer, have been found.
| ||
| Assignment 5 | ||
| Electronic Edition: | Table of Contents | |
| Supplementary Materials | ||
| Cover of 1921, John Lane Company Edition | S1img19980403124220.jpg | |
| Cover of 1914, Dodd, Mean and Company Edition | S2img19980403124220.jpg | |
| Cover of 1914, Grosset & Dunlap Edition | S3img19980403124220.jpg | |
| Description of later copies of The Fortunate Youth:
************************************************ Title page: New York Dodd, Mean and Company 1914 Copyright, 1913-14 by The Butterick Publishing Company Copyright, 1914, by Dodd, Mead and Company Printed in the USA by The Quinn & Goden Company Book Manufacturers Rahway New Jersey Red cover, black type embossed, no clovers or horseshoes on cover, horseshoe on spine. Same plates except for titlepage. ************************************************* New York Grosset & Dunlap Publishers [border around text] Copyright, 1913-14 by The Butterick Publishing Company Copyright, 1914, by John Lane Company Different cover, brown, red different font, black lines border. SPine not available. Same plates. ************************************************ New York: John Lane Company London: John Lane, The Bodley Head MCMXXI [1921] Copyright, 1913-14 by The Butterick Publishing Company Copyright, 1914, by John Lane Company Same cover as previous entry, lighter green than first edition, white font. SPine not available. Same plates. ************************************************ [source: physical observation of books found on interlibrary loan from WEBCAT] | ||
| Correspondance with James South, Describing further copies of "The Fortunate Youth"
From: James South [j.south@mail.utexas.edu] Sent: Thursday, March 05, 1998 3:13 PM To: tmh7m@virginia.edu Subject: Re W.J. Locke's The fortunate youth Tim, Sorry it has taken a while, but I have some information about Locke's The fortunate youth as per your email of 22 Feb. I'm not sure how detailed you want to get concerning the various editions, so I'll do a short version and if you have questions, perhaps I can answer them. I'll go down your list of questions as given: 1) how many editions? Here at the Harry Ransom Center we have four editions all dated 1914. They are all from the same printer's sheets, except that the first gathering has been reset in each case. In fact, the text after p. 9 is the same in all four. Each has title/author statement: THE / FORTUNATE YOUTH / BY / WILLIAM J. LOCKE. The text extends through p. 352. I will call the editions A, B, C & D. A is different from B-D in that it has only a color frontispiece (the others have 8 black and white plates). The title is on p. [5] and there is a blank leaf (p. [1]-[2]) before the half title. The imprint is: London : John Lane, The Bodley Head / New York : John Lane Company / Toronto : Bell and Cockburn MCMXIV. On verso of t.p. at foot is "The Ballantyne Press Tavistock Street Covent Gardens London." This edition has [32] p. of publisher's advertisements at end. Red cloth binding, stamped in white on front cover and spine; title, author and imprint "The Bodley Head" stamped in gold on spine. This is the first English edition. B, C & D are all the same except for the title page and its verso. Unlike A, they have 8 leaves of illustration throughout text, p. [5] is a list of illustrations, t.p. is on p. [3], and there is no blank leaf between half title and front endpaper [i.e. the half title is p. [1]]. B has, in addition to title/author statement on t.p.: ILLUSTRATIONS / BY / ARTHUR I. KELLER. Its imprint: New York : John Lane Company / London: John Lane, The Bodley Head / Toronto: Bell & Cockburn / MCMXIV. On verso of t.p.: "Copyright 1913-14 by The Butterick Publishing Company [space] Copyright 1914, by John Lane Company". This edition is bound in dark green cloth with a shamrock design on front cover, stamped in gold on front cover and spine. This is the first American edition. C has same title page and verso as A, but has 8 plates and format of p.[1]-[8] as B, except the caption on the plates is in a different style of type. The binding is also the same as A, except at foot of spine the publisher "Bell & Cockburn" is stamped in gold. This is the first Canadian edition. D has same title page and verso as A and C, except in middle of verso is the phrase "Australasian Edition". The format is the same as B & C. Binding is same as A, except above "The Bodley Head" on spine is stamped in gold "AUSTRALASIAN / EDITION". This is self-explanatory. We have one other edition at HRC which is v. XV of The works of William J. Locke. Autograph edition. [London] : John Lane, The Bodley Head, [1926]. There is a bibliographical note facing the t.p. in this edition: First published 1914, reprinted (twice) 1914, cheap edition 1920, popular crown 8vo edition 1923, autograph edition 1926. I looked in the National Union Catalog of pre-1956 imprints and found records for a 1921 John Lane ed. and a 1921, c1913 N.Y. Dodd, Mead ed. Looking on OCLC found a record for a N.Y. Grosset & Dunlap ed., c1914. I have not seen copies of any of the later editions except the 1926 autograph ed. 2) I have not been able to find any sales figures. We have a small portion of the John Lane archives here, but what we have about Locke is mainly correspondence between himself and John Lane. 3) One translation noted in NUC pre-1956: Un joven afortunado /[tr. by] Alejancro Frrias Giraud. Barcelona ; Madrid : Sociedad de publicaciiones, c1926. 4) We have no dust jackets at HRC except for the 1926 autograph ed. 5) The information on verso of edition B described above is a hint of earlier serialization. It was serialized in a publication of The Butterick Publishing Company called The Delineator from June 1913 to February 1914. 6) I've described the English and American firsts above. 7) I don't know which edition came first. Since the sheets were printed in England, it is logical to expect the English edition to have been first, but my experience with first editions of other authors of this period indicates that this is not always so. The best way to determine which was issued first is to consult the publisher's archives or to go through periodicals such as Publisher's weekly for the year 1914 and look for announcements of the imminent publication. 8) Yes, see 1) above. 9) I know some of Locke's novels were made into movies, but I'm not sure about this one. We have some material in our vertical file which I hope to consult tomorrow about this. Perhaps I will find an answer there. Same answer for dramatic productions. I hope this is of some help and that it hasn't come too late. If you have further questions, I will do my best to answer them. Good luck with the project. James South Cataloguing Dept. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center University of Texas at Austin | ||
| Correspondance with James South, Describing further copies of "The Fortunate Youth"
From: James South [j.south@mail.utexas.edu] Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 1998 3:18 PM To: tmh7m@virginia.edu Subject: more W.J. Locke questions OK, Tim, for your sescond round of questions: I've looked at what we have of the John Lane archives. There is a lot of correspondence between Locke and John Lane or one of his editors, B.W. Willett. Unfortunately, there is little hard data about sales. I scanned through 50-60 letters looking for (1) mention of The fortunate youth and (2) looking for figures indicating sales [By the way, Locke's handwriting was terrible, sometimes indecipherable]. No mention of either, except in early letters [eg. chapters XV-XVI of F.Y. finished]. I found out that most of the John Lane papers are located at Wakefield College, University of London. I assume the sales figures would be among those papers. If they have been microfilmed, we do not have a copy of them. 2) The HRHRC probably has one of the best repositories of Locke's manuscripts. We have the ms. of almost all of the novels and many short stories. In addition, we have a number of notebooks, photographs and family records. Our vertical file has several notebooks of clippings about Locke, mostly reviews of his books and his obituaries from numerous sources. 3) As for editor(s) and/or agent(s) I'm not sure if he had either. His relationship with John Lane was so strong that he refused to be courted away by other publishers, and, from a cursory reading of the letters, I tend to think that Lane acted as his agent in dealings with other publishers and in other matters, such as film rights. As for the editing of his books, there was very little of it. More than one of the articles about Locke mentioned that he seldom, if ever rewrote. A study done by a woman for a class here at UT examined the corrections made to several of our Locke manuscripts and described them as minimal. 4) If you have not heard of the NUC pre-1956, then someone is not teaching you where to search for the various editions. The National Union Catalog pre-1956 imprints is a 750 volume compilation of cataloging from all the major libraries in the country. Every university library probably has one, if not several sets. I'm sure Virginia must have it. Much of the material is on-line now, but there is much in NUC pre-1956 that is still not on computer. 5) No paperback editions that I am aware of. Locke's popularity waned just about the time paperbacks were first being introduced. In the teens and twentys houses such as John Lane would sell subsequent rights to other publishing houses for later, usually cheaper, editions (The New York, Dodd 1927, c1913 edition would be one of these) or, as I mentioned in the first e-mail, issue later cheaper editions themselves. This in effect was the same as paperback rights are today. In connection with this I discovered a later J. Lane edition at UT's main library: 2/6 [i.e. 2 shilling, 6 pence] Crown 8vo edition, May, 1937. This is the latest (and probably last) edition of The fortunate youth. 6) Paper weight for the first edition. Sorry, that too would be in John Lane Co. papers or perhaps the records of the Ballantyne Press, which are God knows where. Last, concerning possibility of getting a scan of the 1926 dust jacket. I'm afraid HRHRC has neither the staff nor equipment in place to facilitate this. It is not an illustrated dust jacket at all, rather plain golden yellow paper with title/author, etc. printed in green, as well as "The complete works of William John Locke. Autograph edition." at top of front cover. This really is about all the time I can afford to help you with your project. I hope you are able to find answers elsewhere to the questions that I could not help with. Yours truly, James South Cataloging Dept. Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center University of Texas at Austin | ||
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