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Writing with “one hand for the booksellers”: Victorian Poetry and the Illustrated Literary Periodical of the 1860s by Caley Liane Ehnes BA, University of Alberta, 2005 MA, University of Victoria, 2007 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of English Caley Liane Ehnes, 2014 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Writing with “one hand for the booksellers”: Victorian Poetry and the Illustrated Literary Periodical of the 1860s by Caley Liane Ehnes BA, University of Alberta, 2005 MA, University of Victoria, 2007 Supervisory Committee Dr. Alison Chapman (Department of English) Supervisor Dr. Lisa Surridge (Department of English) Departmental Member Dr. Mariel Grant (Department of History) Outside Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Alison Chapman (Department of English) Supervisor Dr. Lisa Surridge (Department of English) Departmental Member Dr. Mariel Grant (Department of History) Outside Member Focusing on the poetry published in the Cornhill, Once a Week, Good Words, and the Argosy, four of the most prominent illustrated literary periodicals of the 1860s, this dissertation contends that the popular poetry found in mid-century periodicals is not only essential to our understanding of the periodical press, but also that the periodical is integral to our understanding of Victorian poetics. Each chapter examines the poetry and poetics of a single periodical title and addresses several key issues related to the publication of poetry in the periodical press: the power and influence of illustrated poetry in contemporary visual culture, the intended audience of the literary periodical and the issues that raises for editors and poets, the sociology and networks of print, and the ways in which periodical poetry participated in contemporary debates about prosody. This dissertation thus offers an alternative history of Victorian poetry that asserts the centrality of the periodical and popular poetry. In other words, it argues that without a consideration of the vital importance of periodical poetry, Victorian poetry studies is quite simply anachronistic. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. xi Permissions ...................................................................................................................... xiii Dedication ........................................................................................................................ xiv Introduction: Poetry, Popularity, and the Periodical Press ................................................. 1 The History of Popular Periodical Poetry ....................................................................... 9 Puff-Poets: The Critical Reputation of Periodical Poetry ............................................. 19 Chapter 1: The Cornhill Magazine as a Purveyor of Poetic Culture ................................ 37 “The original programme”: Defining the Cornhill ....................................................... 40 “Reap North, South, East, Far West”: Literary Labour in the Cornhill Magazine ....... 50 The End of an Era: Thackeray’s Resignation ............................................................... 67 The Politics of Periodical Poetics: Barrett Browning’s “A Musical Instrument” ........ 75 Chapter 2: The Modern Mode of Once a Week’s Domestic Poetry ................................. 92 Once a Week, Household Words, and the Domestication of the Literary Weekly ....... 94 The Verbal Networks of Once a Week’s Domestic Poetry ........................................... 97 Illustration as the primary Material Context for the Poetry of Once a Week ............. 107 Chapter Three: Devotional Reading and Popular Poetry in Good Words ...................... 128 “The essentials of the Christian Faith”: Reading Good Words ................................... 131 v The Sabbath Reading Question: Good Words in the (Religious) Literary Market ..... 140 Lines of Devotion: Poetry in Good Words ................................................................. 146 The Visual Composition of Poetry in Good Words .................................................... 159 Hymn Culture and the Poetry of Good Words ............................................................ 169 Chapter 4: The Poetics of Popular Poetry in the Argosy ................................................ 181 Popular Poetry and Sentimental Literature ................................................................. 188 “This little coasting trade”: Isa Craig, Christina Rossetti, and Feminine Poetics....... 193 “Wonder-working words”: The Popular Poetry of Sarah Williams ........................... 204 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 228 The 1860s and beyond ................................................................................................ 230 The Digital Humanities and Victorian Poetry ............................................................ 234 “One Word More” on Periodical Poetry ..................................................................... 238 Works Cited .................................................................................................................... 242 Periodical Poems ......................................................................................................... 242 Secondary Sources ...................................................................................................... 248 Appendix A: Figures ....................................................................................................... 283 Appendix B: Biographies of identified contributors, illustrators, and publishers of Once a Week, the Cornhill, Good Words, and the Argosy .......................................................... 317 Appendix C: Periodical Poetry Index ............................................................................. 336 vi List of Tables Table 1: Index of poetry published in the Cornhill Magazine Volumes 1–8 (January 1860 to December 1863) .............................................................................................. 336 Table 2: Index of poetry published in Once a Week Volumes 1–3 (2 July 1859 to 22 December 1860) .................................................................................................. 340 Table 3: Index of poetry published in Good Words Volumes 1–3 (January 1860 to December 1862) .................................................................................................. 346 Table 4: Index of poetry published in the Argosy Volumes 1–8 (December 1865 to December 1869) .................................................................................................. 353 vii List of Figures Figure 1: Layout of Barrett Browning’s “L.E.L.’s Last Question” in the Ladies’ Pocket Magazine (1839): 89–91. (The illustrations were printed on the verso side of tipped-in pages. The recto of each is blank). ................................................... 283 Figure 2: Layout of Barrett Browning’s “L.E.L.’s Last Question” in the Athenaeum (26 January 1839): 69............................................................................................. 284 Figure 3: Fisher’s Drawing Room Scrapbook (1836), Internet Archive, University of Toronto Libraries, 17 March 2010, Web, 21 June 2013. ................................. 285 Figure 4: Monthly Issue Cover of the Cornhill for November 1869. Image courtesy Lisa Surridge. ........................................................................................................... 286 Figure 5: W. M. W. Call, “Manoli,” Illus. Frederick Sandys, Cornhill 6 (September 1862): 346–50. ................................................................................................. 287 Figure 6: Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Musical Instrument,” Illus. Frederick Leighton, Cornhill 2 (July 1860): 84–85. ........................................................................ 288 Figure 7: Shirley Brooks, “Once a Week,” Illus. John Leech, Once a Week 1 (2 July 1859): 2. ........................................................................................................... 289 Figure 8: Shirley Brooks, “Once a Week,” Illus. John Leech, Once a Week 1 (2 July 1859): 1. ........................................................................................................... 290 Figure 9: H., “Scarborough—1859,” Illus. John Leech, Once a Week 1 (17 September 1859): 30. ........................................................................................................