IMAGE AND TEXT IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN AND ITS AFTER-IMAGES A Dissertation by GINA OPDYCKE TERRY Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2010 Major Subject: English IMAGE AND TEXT IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY BRITAIN AND ITS AFTER-IMAGES A Dissertation by GINA OPDYCKE TERRY Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Terence Hoagwood Committee Members, Susan Egenolf Victoria Rosner Cynthia Bouton Head of Department, M. Jimmie Killingsworth May 2010 Major Subject: English iii ABSTRACT Image and Text in Nineteenth-Century Britain and Its After-Images. (May 2010) Gina Opdycke Terry, B.A., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill; M.A., Texas A&M University Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Terence Hoagwood “Image and Text” focuses on the consequences of multi-media interaction on the concept of a work’s meaning(s) in three distinct publishing trends in nineteenth-century Britain: graphic satire, the literary annuals, and book illustration. The graphic satire of engravers James Gillray and George Cruikshank is replete with textual components that rely on the interaction of media for the overall satirical impact. Literary annuals combine engravings with the ekphrastic poetry of writers including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Robert Southey, and Letitia Elizabeth Landon. Book illustrations provided writers Sir Walter Scott and Alfred, Lord Tennyson a means to recycle previously published works as “new” texts; the engravings promote an illusion of textual originality and reality by imparting visual meanings onto the text. In turn, the close proximity of text to image changes visual meanings by making the images susceptible to textual meanings. Many of the theoretical implications resulting from the pairing of media resound in modern film adaptations, which often provide commentary about nineteenth-century visual culture and the self-reflexivity of media. iv The critical heritage that has responded to the pairing of media in nineteenth- century print culture often expresses uneasiness with the relationship between text and mechanically produced images, and this uneasiness has often resulted in the treatment of text and image as separate components of multi-media works. “Image and Text” recovers the dialogue between media in nineteenth-century print forms often overlooked in critical commentary that favors the study of an elusive and sometimes fictional concept of an original work; each chapter acknowledges the collaborative nature of the production of multi-media works and their ability to promote textual newness, originality (or the illusion of originality), and (un)reality. Multi-media works challenge critical conventions regarding artistic and authorial originality, and they enter into battles over fidelity of meaning. By recognizing multi-media works as part of a diverse genre it becomes possible to expand critical dialogue about such works past fidelity studies. Text and image cannot faithfully represent the other; what they can do is engage in dialogue: with each other, with their historical and cultural moments, and with their successors and predecessors. v DEDICATION To my Parents, Ann and Don Opdycke vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Much of this dissertation focuses on the collaborative nature of literary and artistic works; likewise, these acknowledgements celebrate the often collaborative nature of academic work. While I have spent long solitary hours researching and writing, I could not have done so without the moral and academic support of my friends, family, and colleagues. I would like to thank Dr. Terence Hoagwood who has been a mentor to me for over seven years. His unfailing belief in my work, his patience as I’ve jabbered on about ideas, and his perseverance in encouraging me to be a better writer have all contributed—and continue to contribute—to my growth as a scholar. To the rest of my committee, Dr. Susan Egenolf, Dr. Victoria Rosner, and Dr. Cynthia Bouton, I am thankful for their guidance and constructive criticism. To Dr. Egenolf, in particular, I am thankful for her helpful feedback in meetings that often included my daughter vying for our attention. To Rona Glasser, my high school art teacher, I am thankful for years of encouragement that I find a way to join my two loves: art and literature. I’m happy to say that I have found a way. Thank you to the English Department for a Dissertation Fellowship that allowed me some much-needed time to read and write, and to so many faculty members who actively demonstrate their support of graduate students. Thank you to the College of Liberal Arts for a generous Dissertation Fellowship that helped fund research trips to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas and to the University of Edinburgh, vii British Museum, and British Library. Many thanks as well to Dr. James Rosenheim and the Melbern G. Glasscock Center for hosting so many rewarding interdepartmental colloquiums and for a stipendiary fellowship and travel award that also made my research trip to the United Kingdom possible. I am thankful for Dr. Peter Garside’s willingness to meet at the University of Edinburgh with a strange American graduate student to discuss illustrations of Sir Walter Scott’s work. Thank you as well to Teri Czajowski at Texas A&M for helping me to coordinate all of the necessary paperwork for my research trips. For the willingness of my writing partner Amy Montz to read so many drafts and to discuss so many ideas I am eternally thankful. Going forward I know that I can rely on Amy as a sounding board for new projects and I always look forward to reading her impressive work. To Dana Lawrence, Nick Lawrence, Sarah Peters, Miranda Green- Barteet, Cody Barteet, Meghan Gilbert-Hickey and Jeremiah Hickey, thank you for demonstrating that we can be many things at once (graduate student, scholar, spouse, and parent). To my family, I am thankful not only for your encouragement, but also for your help watching Alison while I work. I am thankful for Larry and Judy Terry’s trips to help on the home front while I traveled. I owe this dissertation to my parents, Ann and Don Opdycke, whose frequent treks to Texas to watch their granddaughter, fix computers, proofread drafts, and cook delicious meals guaranteed that I stayed on track personally and professionally. Thank you for believing in me. viii To my husband Steve, I send my heartfelt thanks for years of encouragement, for long conversations about everything and nothing, and for countless trips to the library to transport books to and from the house. He and Alison remind me to enjoy life outside of the study, and they fill my life with love and laughter. ix NOMENCLATURE BMC British Museum Catalog BL British Library x TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. iii DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... vi NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................................. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: ARTFUL INTERACTIONS: TEXT, IMAGE, AND MASS-MEDIA .............................................................................. 1 II “READ O’ER THIS!”: TEXT AND IMAGE IN ROMANTIC- PERIOD GRAPHIC SATIRE ................................................................ 22 III “POETICAL ILLUSTRATIONS”: TEXT AND IMAGE IN THE LITERARY ANNUALS ....................................................................... 85 IV “APPROPRIATE EMBELLISHMENTS”: ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENTS TO SIR WALTER SCOTT’S WORK ...................... 153 V THE IMPLICATIONS OF LOOKING: TEXT AND IMAGE IN THE MOXON TENNYSON .......................................................................... 222 VI NINETEENTH-CENTURY AFTER-IMAGES AND TWENTIETH- CENTURY MEDIA ............................................................................... 278 VII CONCLUSION: SIGNPOSTS: THE PRESERVATION OF NINETEENTH- CENTURY AFTER-IMAGES ................................... 319 WORKS CITED ........................................................................................................ 331 xi Page VITA ......................................................................................................................... 366 xii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1.1 William Hogarth, The Invasion—England, 1756, Engraving. © Trustees of the British Museum, BMC. 3454 ............................... 27 Figure 1.2 George Cruikshank, Scene in the R—L Bed-Chamber; or, A SLIT in the Breeches!, 1816, Hand-Colored Etching, Published by John Fairburn. © Trustees of the British Museum, BMC. 12771. ............. 44 Figure 1.3 James Gillray, The Blood of the Murdered Crying for Vengeance, 1793, Hand-Colored Etching and Engraving, Published by Hannah Humphrey. © Trustees of the British Museum, BMC. 8304. ...................................................................................... 51 Figure 1.4