|
The World of Vanity Fair by Bertram Fletcher Robinson | 
 enlarge | Creator: Paul R. Spiring
Publisher: MX Publishing
Buy New: $105.85
New (12) Used (1) from $88.40
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Pages: 310
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 9.9 x 6.8 x 1
ISBN: 1904312535
Dewey Decimal Number: 051
EAN: 9781904312536
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
During 1868, Thomas Gibson Bowles founded an influential British periodical entitled "Vanity Fair". It was published weekly and included both serial fiction and articles on fashion, current affairs, theatre, books and social events. Bowles also used "Vanity Fair" to expose what he perceived to be the contemporary vanities of Victorian high-society. This led him to introduce cartoon caricatures of famous people, drawn by artists such as Ape (Carlo Pellegrini, 1838-1889) and most famously, Spy (Leslie Ward, 1851-1922). Each cartoon was accompanied by a short, entertaining and often cutting biography. It has been suggested that Bowles scribed over two-thousand biographies during the forty-six years that "Vanity Fair" was in existence (1868-1914) under the pseudonym of Jehu Junior (named partially after a Biblical King who vanquished his enemies with extreme vigour). This is improbable, as Bowles sold the magazine during 1889 and thereafter became an extremely active Politician. It is far more probable that many of the Jehu Juniors were written by subsequent editors that included Bertram Fletcher Robinson. Bertram Fletcher Robinson edited "Vanity Fair" between 1904 and 1907. During his editorship, he began advertising widely and also swapped publishing house from Arthur Evans to Harmsworth. These actions coupled with the recruitment of writers such as PG Wodehouse saw an increase in the readership of "Vanity Fair". Between December 1905 and February 1907, Robinson also had a series of fifteen articles entitled "Chronicles in Cartoon" published in "The Windsor Magazine". Within these articles, Robinson reviews the most prominent caricatures and accompanying Jehu Juniors to appear in "Vanity Fair" between 1868 and 1907. Collectively, these articles provide a fascinating insight into every aspect of late Victorian-life and they will interest both collectors of the famous caricatures and historians. During January 1907, Bertram Fletcher Robinson died aged just 36 years. His untimely death occurred just two months after he relinquished the editorship of "Vanity Fair" and just one month before the conclusion of his serialization, "Chronicles in Cartoon". It is very likely that had he lived, he would have sought to have the fifteen items that were published in "The Windsor Magazine" compiled and republished in book form. Moreover, it is probable that he would have considered this work to be his magnum opus given that he was a graduate of History from Cambridge University. This book affords Robinson that posthumous opportunity.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Sumptuous - It really is a treasure as a work of art. May 24, 2009
S. Emecz (London, England)
May 2009 Review on independent book review site thebookbag.co.uk
5 out of 5 - A sumptuous album containing nearly 400 caricatures from the Victorian journal Vanity Fair, with the original accompanying biographical notes for all subjects.
"Every now and then, you comes across a really sumptuous book, where just turning and looking at the pages takes you into another world. Such is the case with this one.
Vanity Fair was a gentler Victorian forerunner of Private Eye. Subtitled, A Weekly Show of Political, Social, and Literary Wares, it appeared between 1868 and 1914. Like the more successful, longer-lasting Punch, it began with radical aspirations, intending to expose what [the editor] perceived to be the vanities of the elite social classes.
What a feast the result is. These caricatures were much admired in their day, and I had seen some of them reproduced in other books, as well as the odd one or two in places like the National Portrait Gallery. So I was delighted to find them all brought together for perhaps the first time ever.
The articles are divided into categories. First comes royalty - and it is significant that this section includes the only four women in the book, followed by 'Potentates, Princes, and Presidents'', and then various professions - politicians, lawyers, the army, musicians, sportsmen, explorers, inventors, men of letters, and so on.
For somebody like me who is fascinated by almost anything connected with the Victorian era, it is a positive garden of delights - it really is a treasure as a work of art".
Full review available at bookbag.co.uk.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
top