| Researcher | Author: Title | |
| Esther Adams | Stone, Irving: Those Who Love | |
| Assignment 1: Bibliographic Description | ||
| 1. First Edition Publication Information | Irving Stone. Those Who Love: A Biographical Novel of Abigail
and John Adams. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc. 1965. Copyright:Irving Stone, 1965 | |
| 2. First Edition in Cloth, Paper, or Both? | First American edition published in trade cloth binding | |
| 4. Pagination | 332 leaves,[4]pp. [1]3-78[1]80-141[1]143-203[1]205-281[1]283-365[1]367
-418[1]420-497[1]499-574[1]576-647[1]649-650[1]652-662 | |
| 5. Edited and/or Introduced? | The book is neither edited or introduced but does include
a publisher advertisement for other books by Irving Stone on one of the front fly leaves. The book is dedicated to Stone's wife, Jean Stone. | |
| 6. Illustrated? | The book contains no illustrations | |
| 8. General Appearance | The book is in really good condition for a book that is 35
years old. I saw no staining on pages and the pages are only yellowing significantly on the edges. The physical presentation of the text is attractive and the typography very readable. The book is well printed. Each chapter is entitled and there are nine 'books', an author's note, and a bibliography. 82R. Book size: 23.4cm. | |
| 10. Description of Paper | The book in on wove paper and as mentioned above, the paper
has yellowed with age but is still in good condition. The edges are rough and give a torn look to the sides of the paper. The paper is smooth and the original coloring appears creamy. There do not appear to be any different stocks in the book and no glossy stock where illustrations might have been. The preservation state of the paper of the examined copy appears smooth with even wear and no particular stains, etc. | |
| 11. Description of Binding | Trade cloth binding, Hue: Red,Reddish (as defined by Gaskell), and
the lightness is moderate. Gold leafing on binding. Endpapers on colored paper - red. Information on Spine: THOSE|WHO|LOVE| [BY]|IRVING STONE|DOUBLEDAY| | |
| 12. Title Page Transcription | THOSE WHO LOVE|AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL|OF ABIGAIL AND JOHN ADAMS|
BY IRVING STONE|DOUBLEDAY AND COMPANY,INC.|GARDEN CITY,NEW YORK 1965| Title Page verso transcription: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS|CARD NUMBER 65-19900| COPYRIGHT@1965 BY IRVING STONE|ALL RIGHTS RESERVED|PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | |
| 14. Manuscript Holdings | looked on RLIN and found nothing | |
| 15. Other | Written on a piece of paper that is glued to the inside back cover
is : HR Duke, 616 Park Street, Charlottesville,Va University of Virginia Library Rare Book Room, #PS3537, it669T49,1965,Helen Duke The examined copy is located at Alderman Library in Special Collections, call number PS3537.T669 T49 1965, Rarebook,Special Collection,Stacks. | |
| Assignment 2: Publication History | ||
| 1. Other Editions: | Readers Digest - Reader's digest condensed books : autumn selections
volume IV, 1965. Pleasantville, N.Y. : Reader's Digest Association, 1965, Book Club Edition | |
| 4. First Edition printings or impressions? | I looked all through the Publisher's Weekly Index for Oct-Dec
1965 and could not find how many printings of the first edition occurred. | |
| 5. Editions from other publishers? | Yes, N A L. 1967 and a British edition - Those Who Love; a biographical novel of Abigail and John
Adams. Stone, Irving. London, Cassell 1966 1965, first published in Great Britian in 1966 | |
| 6. Last date in print? | The book is no longer in print and from what I researched, the
last date in print seems to be 1967. | |
| 7. Total copies sold? | I looked at every resource I could get my hands on, Hacketts,
Mott's was not useful because it only went until 1947 and I searched for days for Tebbel and could not get my hands on it. I also looked online and could not find the number of total copies sold. I also looked in the Publisher's Weekkly Index for 0ct -Dec 1965 as my book was published Oct.22,1965. | |
| 8. Sales by year? | unknown | |
| 9. Advertising copy: | I looked in Publisher's Weekly and the advertising I found was
under "PW Forecasts" and previewed the book. | |
| 11. Other promotion? | I did not see any other advertisements in Publisher's Weekly and
could not get my hands on Tebbel but from looking at PW I would assume that the book got good advertising in the form of inserts in PW etc. | |
| 12. Performances in other media? | I looked in all the bibliographies and catalogs given to us
to look at and found nothing in terms of this being a book that was performed through other media. Next, I looked in WorldCat and the only other form of performance I found was audio cassette. (Newport Beach, Calif. : Books on Tape ; 1984) | |
| 13. Translations? | There were several translations of Those Who Love.
1. Los Que Aman, Stone, Irving, Barcelona: Plaza and Janes, 1968 [Spanish] 2. Selezione del Libro. Milano 1969 [Italian] 3. Das Leben gehort den Liebenden; Roman. Stone, Irving, Munchen: Droemer Knaur, 1967[German] 4. Livet tillhor dem som alskar. Stone, Irving, {Van ersberg] Forum 1967 5. Das Leben gehort den Liebenden; Roman. Stone, Irving, Zurich, Buchclub Ex Libris 1967[German] 6. Quelli che amano; romanzo.Stone, Irving, Milano, dall'Oglio. 1967 [Italian] 7. Das Leben gehort den Liebenden: Roman Stone, Irving, Berlin: Deutsch Buch-Gemeinschaft, 1969 [German] | |
| 14. Serialization? | None | |
| 15. Sequels or Prequels? | None | |
| Assignment 3: Brief Biography | ||
| Considered the “acknowledged master of the biographical novel," Irving Stone has
written numerous works that make historical figures in both American and European history come alive. Those Who Love is no exception. First published by Doubeleday in 1965, Those Who Love is the biographical novel depicting the love story and marriage relationship of John and Abigail Adams, the second President and First Lady of the United States. Stone began writing Those Who Love in 1960, right after he and his wife, Jean Stone, moved into the home they had built on 3 acres of land above UCLA. They were barely moved in when Stone entered his studio and began work on Those Who Love. Like John and Abigail Adams, Irving and Jean Stone had a very strong relationship. Jean Stone was a very significant player in Irving Stone's literary career; she researched and edited 18 of Stone’s biographical novels. He loved her greatly and dedicated every single one of his books to his wife. In 1998 Jean Stone was awarded the Hubert Howe Bancroft Award, the highest honor of the Bancroft Library at UC -Berkeley ( Irving Stone was a Berkeley alum), for her work with her husband and her work in editing and promoting the collecting of biography and history. This book was written at the height of Stone’s career. He had achieved fortune, fame, and a reputation as an incredible author whose works had been published in foreign countries and achieved much acclaim. While writing this book he was offered a very powerful position on President Kennedy’s Cabinet if he would “ undertake certain tasks for the Federal Government and the President.” Stone refused, saying “I don’t want to become powerful. I just want to write books.” During the time that Stone was writing Those Who Love (1960-1965), much was happening politically and socially in American history. The Civil Rights Movement was reaching a pivotal climax, America was zealous about fighting the Communists, celebrating and promoting democracy, and redefining American popular culture. Stone did not use his influence to get caught up in much of the politics of the time but rather showed through the writing of a book like Those Who Love his belief that all of American history is ‘contemporary.’ Stone’s idea was to “make the people so alive, so sympathetic that the readers will really understand the period because they lived it and live through the events emotionally.” Stone really believed in the importance of research and that through that you come to know a historical character better and better.This is very evident in Those Who Love. This story of Abigail Adams is in Stone’s words, “a true and documented story of one human being’s journey across the face of the years, transmuted from raw material into the delight and purity of an authentic art form.” To Stone, this was the job and the definition of the biographical novel. Stone’s most recent work before Those Who Love was his masterpiece on Michaelangelo, The Agony and the Ecstasy. The year that Those Who Love was first published Stone was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Southern California, where he recieved his master’s degree. Stone was also honored with the Giglia d’ Oro, which is the golden lily of Florence, for his “distinguished service to our Renaissance City,” for the Agony and the Ectasy. Like Those Who Love, The Agony and the Ectasy was also published by Doubleday as were subsequent works of Stone’s. Those Who Love did very well, it was a bestseller in 1965 and recieved acclaim as another one of Stone’s great works. As far as I know, the book was not performed in any other media and Stone was not involved. Those Who Love is another example of Stone's amazing adherence to historical detail as well as his overall passion for showing the depth of historical figures that often appear two dimensional in history textbooks. Those Who Love also displays Stone's ability to make history intriguing and relevant to the general public as well as his general mastery of the historical and biographical novel. | ||
| Assignment 4 | ||
| Contemporary Reception: | ||
| Irving Stone's novel of John and Abigail Adams, Those Who Love, did not seem to be recieved
as one of Stone's best works. Although rich in historical information, it is not considered by critics to be a good example of a captivating historical novel. The book review which appeared in the November 1st 1965 publication of Newsweek magazine,described the book as,"a good children's book disguised as a bad grownup's book." The review criticizes Stone for making the story of John and Abigail too nice and uses the story of their love as a "saccharine coating on the educational stuff of history. That, too is beefed up." To this reviewer, the book is not nearly as complex and rich in plot and character as many of Stone's other bestselling novels. The reviewer also describes the book as having "wooden characters and wooden conversation and wooden thoughts." The book appears staged to this reviewer; as if it is something to be read in a middle school classrooom to help students understand history better, "With some judicious weeding, pleasant woodcuts(referring to the quote above) and color illustrations, Stone's book might have been a classic to be cherished through junior high school." Clearly, this Newsweek reviewer believed Stone could have done much more with the book. This reviewer is not alone in his dislike for the book. Marcus Cunliffe, who wrote a review for the book in the New York Times Book Review in 1965 considered Those Who Love, "something less of a masterpiece". He criticizes Stone for getting too bogged down in historical fact and not really exploring the complexities of the characters, particularly John Adams. Cunliffe critiques Stone for "indicating John Adams's deficiencies" but says that "he does not explore them with any great insight." He also notes that Stone does not show Adams's "intellectual merit." John Adams is often a President that is overlooked between Washington and Jefferson, and the criticism of these critics is that Stone's book does not fully help the reader to know the complexties of John Adams better. Cunliffe does point out that for those who love history the book will be a fun read and that it is a "solid effort." A third reviewer who has a fairly negative take on Those Who Love, is Wilson Sullivan of the Saturday Review, who notes that the book seemed bogged down in unnecessary historical detail and that it too heavily relies on historical documents. He also feels that the characters are "too nice", "too right" etc. The love of John and Abigail also seemed to have a "rural snuggle-bunny warmth." To Sullivan, the character development is shallow and there is more history than novel. These reviews all see Those Who Love as one of Stone's lesser novels in terms of strong character development. They also see the book as inbalanced in terms of being a potent combination of history and novel. All three of these reviews were written about a month after the book came out. The book came out in October and these were written in November 1965. Sources: Newsweek, November 1, 1965 edition,pg.96 Contemporary Literary Criticism, volume 7, pages 469-470. | ||
| Subsequent Reception: | ||
| I had difficulty finding reviews past 5 years of the books publication. As this
was not one of Stone's most famous works and not considered one of his best, not much seemed to be said about it in terms of newspapers, magazines, or journals. I searched extensively and the only reviews I could find were on Barnes and Noble.com and Amazon.com by customers who requested the book or the audiocassette version of the book. These customers said, "Irving Stone gives us a look at the American Revolutionary period and the writing of the Constituiton..His attention to the details of life in that era help us to a greater understanding of what it was all about", "It was a beautiful story that a person who likes romantic novels could read, or one that a person interested in history could read" and "You feel as if you knew Abigail Adams as well as a next door neighbor. It was hard to put down." These reviews provide an interesting look at what readers say about the novel and the ability Stone has to really develop a character that the average person would not think of as an intriguing or inspiring. According to this reader, Stone was able to capture Abigail Adams, the woman. It is interesting that neither of these comments mention Stone's ability to develop John Adams as a complex character; this is one of the things that was critized. However, these quotes do concur with earlier comments that the book has amazing historical accuracy. All of these quotes testify to what was said about the book when it first came out. Stone gives great attention to historical detail, and for those who love history it is a delight to read. Sources: www.amazon.com | ||
| Assignment 5 | ||
| Critical Essay: | ||
| Irving Stone’s “Those Who Love” is a novel that teaches us so much about what makes a
book a bestseller. There are numerous aspects of this that need to be highlighted that teach us about what can make a bestseller. In 1965, when “Those Who Love” was written, the name Irving Stone was inextricably linked to the genre of the “historical novel.” Irving Stone was at the height of his career and had achieved fame, fortune, and quite a name for himself. This is one of the biggest things that made this book a bestseller. Irving Stone had a name for himself that extended far beyond literary circles. As an author, he was popular and well-known among the general public and when an author is well known people are more likely to walk into a bookstore and pick up their latest literary work. Stone was also considered a master of the historical novel and so good at making history come alive. Having a name that superceded you goes far in helping to make any book you write a bestseller. Those Who Love was written right after Stone’s tremendous success with The Agony and the Ecstasy, the story of Michaelangelo. This is Stone’s most well known work and was considered a great success by critics and the general public alike. Those Who Love was the next book that Stone wrote after the Agony and the Ectasy. This is a very important fact because it shows how once an author has done particularly well, he or she can almost ride the coatails of the success of the first book into a successful debut for their second book. No doubt, people were expecting that Stone’s next work would be tremendous since the Agony and the Ectasy was so great. This is part of the reason why the critics were so disappointed that Those Who Love was not as good and the book seemed to be considered to be a weaker example of Stone’s abilities by critics of the time. Although critics did not seem to warm to the book I think another thing this book teaches us about bestsellers is that literary critics and the public do not always agree. Despite the fact that the book was not warmly recieved by critics, people were obviously still reading and enjoying it. This suggests that the public still saw Stone’s ability to make historical figures really come alive and considered the work to be thoroughly enjoyable. Stone’s Those Who Love was clearly not one of his most popular works. It did not stay on the bestsellers list very long and is not one of the first works you find discussed when looking for information on Stone’s works. This also speaks to the fact that the book was not his strongest work and that Stone’s general reputation had a lot to do with its success. Stone was considered the master of the “historical novel” and along with others in this genre - Leon Uris and James Mitchner, he struggled with some of the same things that these authors did. Leon Uris was definitely considered to have weak character development at times as was the case with Stone in Those Who Love. His failure to create strong characters, particularly John Adams, was one of the critics largest complaints. Like Winston Churchill, another famous historical and political novelist, Stone was also well known for his in-depth research and attention to detail. That is one of best attributes of Those Who Love-the attention to historical detail is incredible, almost overwhelming. For those particularly interested in the genre of the historical novel it is not hard to see why Stone would be a bestseller. What makes Stone so good, however, is the ability of his work to captivate a broader audience than just amateur historians. That is the mark of a bestseller. Sources: In Bestseller Database - Meghan Blaszak’s entry on Leon Uris David Sukite’s entry on Winston Churchill previous work on Those Who Love | ||
Bestsellers
Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Maintained by unsworth@uiuc.edu