The Physical Make-up of The Cornhill Magazine, Volumes XXIX-XXX

Volume 29 of The Cornhill Magazine provides few by-lines. Many of the volume's forty-two articles of literary, topical, and cultural interest, including "Homer's Troy and Schliemann's" (pp. 663-674), "Agricultural Labourers" (pp. 686-697), and the serialised novels Far from the Madding Crowd (Ch. 1-29), Young Brown (Book IV, Ch. 8-12, and Book V), Zelda's Fortune (also concluding its run: "Book the Last," Ch. 7-11), and the beginning of A Rose in June (Ch. 1-10 in four monthly parts) appear anonymously. Although his novel leads off every monthly number of The Cornhill in Volume 29 and in three of the monthly numbers in Volume 30, Hardy's name is never mentioned.

Articles which are signed at the end are not fiction: F. Napier Broome's poem "The Music of the Spheres" (pp. 457-8), Henry Rowley's biographical sketch "Livingstone" (pp. 409- 423), and A Suffering Mistress's journalistic essay "On the Side of Mistresses" (pp. 459-468), which responds to "On the Side of Maids" (pp. 298-307) by E. L. L. [probably anti-female emancipation journalist Eliza Lynn Linton]; the only work which is signed under the title is the posthumously-published poem "King Fritz" (p. 662) by W. M. Thackeray, former editor of The Cornhill. To seven non-fiction pieces, ranging from the literary essay "English Lyrical Poetry" (pp. 698-719) by E. L. L. to the anthropological journalism of "Feng- Shui" (pp. 337-348) by F. S. T., mere initials are appended, including the tantalizing "G. B. S." at the conclusion of a lengthy analysis of the poetry of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (pp. 469-490). Since Volume 29's full-page illustrations, printed on the same high quality bond-paper as the letter-press, are all signed by the Helen Allinghams responsible, Marcus Stone (one plate and one vignette for Young Brown), George Du Maurier (vignettes not initialed), and Helen Paterson Allingham, the status of illustrator seems to be greater than that of fledgling novelist. The twelve initial-letter vignettes, by the way, are something of a specialty for The Cornhill Magazine, imparting an old-fashioned literary and Helen Allinghamic quality to all the novel instalments thus introduced. Although the continuous page numbering ends at 760, it does not take into account the twelve plates, which are listed on a separate table of contents page at the beginning of the volume under the heading "To Face Page." Not mentioned in this tabulation but of paratextual importance to responding to Far from the Madding Crowd are the cartoons of sheep (the one white and the other black) in the January issue, pages 84 and 85, in the unsigned essay on Landseer (pp. 81-100); with these creatures we may associate the good shepherd, Gabriel Oak, and his two herding dogs, George (the good companion: steady, reliable) and George's son (the destructive neophyte: immature, easily excited), all of whom appear in the first instalment of the novel (pp. 1-26). The whole of Volume 29, including full-page plates and tables of contents, adds up to 792 pages, the versos of the first title-page and of all of the full-page plates being blank. Volume 30 follows the same pattern.

The Cornhill Magazine, Volumes XXIX-XXX: The Plates and Their Captions

Right: The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the January 1874 instalment: W.

1. January 1874: Chapters 1 ("Description of Farmer Oak: An Incident.") through 5 ("Departure of Bathsheba: A Pastoral Tragedy.") in Vol. 29: pages 1 through 26 (26.75 pages in instalment); plates: initial "W" (5.9 cm wide by 7.6 cm high) signed "H. P." in lower-left corner, and "Hands Were Loosening His Neckerchief." (facing page 1) vertically-mounted, 10.4 cm high by 15.8 cm wide, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-right corner. [detailed discussion]

The caption for the plate is based on the passage in Ch. 3 when Gabriel awakens from carbon monoxide poisoning: "His dog was howling, his head was aching fearfully — somebody was pulling him about, hands were loosening his neckerchief." (p. 14); the initial vignette is based on an earlier passage in Ch. 3: "She came, the pail in one hand, hanging against her knee. The left arm was extended as balance, enough of it being shown bare to make Oak wish that the event had happened in summer, when the whole would have been revealed." (p. 12) [detailed discussion]

2. February 1874: Chapters 6 ("The Fair: The Journey: The Fire.") through 8 ("The Malthouse: The Chat: News.") in Vol. 29: pages 129 through 153 (24.5 pages in instalment); plates: initial "T" (6.3 cm wide by 7.5 cm high) signed "H. P." in lower-left corner, and "'Do You Happen To Want A Shepherd, Ma'am?'" (facing page 129) vertically-mounted, 10.5 cm high by 16 cm wide, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-right corner.

The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the February 1874 instalment: T.

The caption for the plate is based on the passage in Ch. 9 when Gabriel, having failed in his job-search at the Casterbridge fair and then having proven instrumental in putting out the rick fire, approaches Bathsheba for a position, initially unaware of whom he is addressing: "He lifted his hat with respect, and not without gallantry: stepping close to her hanging feet, he said in a hesitating voice — 'Do you happen to want a shepherd, ma'am?'" (p. 136). The initial vignette is not based on a passage in the February instalment; rather, it illustrates the following passage in Ch. 9, although Paterson shows Bathsheba standing, and Liddy alone on the floor: "In the room from which the conversation proceeded, Bathsheba and her servant-companion, Liddy Smallbury, were to be discovered sitting upon the floor, and sorting a complication of papers, books, bottles, and rubbish spread out thereon — remnants from the household stores of the late occupier" (p. 258). [detailed discussion]

3. March 1874: Chapters 9 ("The Homestead: A Visitor: Half-Confidences.") through 14 ("Effect of the Letter: Sunrise.") in Vol. 29: pages 257 through 279 (23.6 pages in instalment); plates: initial "B" (6.2 cm wide by 7.4 cm high) signed "H. P." left of centre at bottom margin and "'Get The Front-Door Key.' Liddy Fetched it." (facing page 257) horizontally-mounted, 10.4 cm wide by 15.9 cm high, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-left corner.

Right: The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the March 1874 instalment: B.

The full-page plate editor Robert Schweik thought important enough to have reproduced at the beginning of the Norton Critical Edition of the novel; here, Paterson illustrates an incident in Ch. 13, Liddy and Bathsheba's re-enacting an old Wessex ritual to discover whom the mistress of Upper Weatherbury Farm will marry: "'Very well, let's try it,' said Bathsheba, bounding from her seat with that total disregard of consistency which can be indulged in towards a dependent, and entering into the spirit of divination at once. 'Go and get the front door key.' Liddy fetched it." (p. 274). The initial vignette comes from much earlier in the instalment, when in Ch. 11 Fanny Robin ineptly throws snowballs at Frank Troy's barracks window in Melbury: "The figure was stooping. Then a morsel of snow flew across the river towards the fifth window" (p. 268). [detailed discussion]

4. April 1874: Chapters 15 ("A Morning Meeting: The Letter Again") through 20 ("Perplexity: Grinding the Shears: A Quarrel") in Vol. 29: pages 385 through 408 (24.25 pages in instalment); plates: initial "T" (6.2 cm wide by 7.5 cm high) signed "H. P" in lower-right corner, and "'I Feel — Almost — Too Much — To Think,' he said." (facing page 385) horizontally-mounted, 10.5 cm wide by 15.8 cm high, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-right corner.

The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the April 1874 instalment: T.

The full-page plate illustrates the following passage from Ch. 19: "'I feel — almost — too much — to think,' he said, with a solemn simplicity, 'I have come to speak to you without preface. My life is not my own since I have beheld you clearly, Miss Everdene — I come to make you an offer of marriage.'" (p. 401). The initial vignette is based on the second paragraph in Ch. 15, on the same page as the small illustration: "The maltster, after having lain down in his clothes for a few hours, was now sitting beside a three-legged table, breakfasting off bread and bacon. This was eaten on the plateless system . . ." (p. 385). [detailed discussion]

5. May 1874: Chapters 21 ("Troubles in the Fold: A Message.") through 24 ("The Same Night: The Fir Plantation.") in Vol. 29: pages 513 through 534 (23 pages in instalment); plates: initial "G" (6.2 cm wide by 7.1 cm high) signed "H P" in lower-left corner, and "She Stood Up In The Window Opening, Facing The Men." (facing page 513) vertically-mounted, 10.5 cm high by 16 cm wide, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-right corner.

Right: The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the May 1874 instalment: G.

The plate illustrates Boldwood and Bathsheba's singing at the sheep-shearers' supper in Ch. 23: "She stood up in the window-opening, facing the men, the candles behind her, and Gabriel on her right hand, immediately outside the sash-frame." (p. 528). The vignette with the letter "G" is probably based on this passage in Ch. 22: "He lopped off the tresses about its head, and opened up the neck and collar . . ." (p. 520). [detailed discussion]

6. June 1874: Chapters 25 ("The New Acquaintance Described.") through 29 ("Particulars of a Twilight Walk.") in Vol. 29: pages 641 through 661 (21 pages in instalment); plates: initial "I" (6 cm wide by 6.9 cm high) signed "H. P." in lower-left corner, and "She Took Up Her Position, As Directed." (facing page 641) vertically- mounted, 10.4cm high by 15.9 cm wide, signed "H Paterson' in the lower-left corner.

The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the June 1874 instalment: O.

The sixth plate is the first in which Sergeant Frank Troy appears, about to dazzle Bathsheba with his expert sword-play in Ch. 28, "The Hollow Amid The Ferns": "Bathsheba's adventurous spirit was beginning to find some grains of relish in these highly novel proceedings. She took up her position as directed, facing Troy." (p. 654); the initial vignette, although based upon a textual moment in Ch. 25, is the only illustration that concerns unnamed characters, male and female; in the foreground one of "the women, who wore tilt bonnets covered with nankeen, which hung in a curtain upon their shoulders" (p. 643), is haymaking. [detailed discussion]

7. July 1874: Chapters 30 ("Hot Cheeks and Tearful Eyes") through 33 ("In the Sun: A Harbinger") in Vol. 30: pages 1 through 22 (22.8 pages in instalment); plates: initial "H" (6 cm wide by 6.9 cm high) signed "H. P." in lower-left corner and "Bathsheba flung her hands to her face." (facing page 1) horizontally-mounted, 10.6 cm wide by 15.8 cm high, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-right corner.

The main plate illustrates a line in Ch. 31: "Bathsheba, who had been standing motionless as a model all this latter time, flung her hands to her face. . ." (p. 10). The initial vignette illustrates Gabriel and Jan' s inspecting the tracks of the (supposedly) stolen horses in Ch. 32: "'We must try to track 'em, since we can't hear 'em,' said Jan, fumbling in his pockets. He struck a light, and held the match to the ground"(p. 13). [detailed discussion]

Right: The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the July 1874 instalment: O.

8. August 1874: Chapters 34 ("Home Again: A Juggler") through 38 ("Rain: One Solitary Meets Another") in Vol. 30: pages 233 through 256 (25 pages in instalment); plates: initial "T" (5.8 cm wide by 7.5 cm high) signed "H. P." in lower-right corner and "'There's not a soul in my house but me to-night.'" (facing page 233) horizontally-mounted, 10.5 cm wide by 16.1 cm high, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-left corner.

The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the August 1874 instalment: O.

The main plate illustrates a line verbatim in Ch. 34, at the bottom of p. 237. The initial-letter vignette illustrates the opening line of the instalment, "That same evening at dusk Gabriel was leaning over Coggan's garden-gate, taking an up-and-down survey before retiring to rest" (p. 233). [detailed discussion]

9. September 1874: Chapters 39 ("Coming Home: A Cry") through 42 ("Joseph and His Burden: Buck's Head.'") in Vol. 30: pages 257 through 280 (24.5 pages in instalment); plates: initial "O" (5.8 cm wide by 7.5 cm high) signed "H. P." in lower-right corner and She opened a gate within which was a haystack, under this she sat down (facing page 257) vertically-mounted, 16.3 cm wide by 10.5 cm high, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-left corner.

Right: The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the September 1874 instalment: O.

The main plate illustrates a passage at the opening of Ch. 41: "At length her onward walk dwindled to the merest totter, and she opened a gate within which was a haystack. Underneath this she sat down and presently slept" (p. 260). The initial vignette illustrates Hardy's description of the Casterbridge Union Workhouse given at the close of Ch. 40: "This green edifice consisted of a central mass and two wings, whereon stood as sentinels a few slim chimneys. . ." (p. 264). [detailed discussion]

10. October 1874: Chapters 43 ("Fanny's Revenge.") through 47 ("Adventure by the Shore.") in Vol. 30: pages 490 through 512 (24 pages in instalment); plates: initial "D" (6 cm wide by 7.6 cm high) signed "H. P." in lower-left corner and "Her tears fell fast beside the unconscious pair." (facing page 490) vertically-mounted, 16 cm wide by 10.1 cm high, signed "H. Paterson" in the lower-left corner.

The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the December 1874 instalment: O.

The main plate illustrates a passage in the middle of Ch. 43: "Her tears fell fast beside the unconscious pair: tears of a complicated origin, of a nature indescribable, almost indefinable except as other than those of simple sorrow" (p. 494). The initial letter vignette illustrates Troy's attempting to decorate Fanny's grave at the close of Ch. 45: "When he returned he carried a spade and a lantern. . . . He hung his lantern on the lowest bough of the yew tree. . . . It was a cloudy, muggy, and very dark night, and the rays from Troy's lantern spread into the two old yews . . ." (p. 504-505). [detailed discussion]

Right: The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the December 1874 instalment: O.

11. November 1874: Chapters 48 ("Doubts Arise: Doubts Vanish") through 51 ("Bathsheba Talks with Her Outrider") in Vol. 30: pages 617 through 640 (24.3 pages in instalment); plates: initial "B" (6 cm wide by 7.5 cm high) signed "H. A." in lower-left corner, and "He saw a bather carried along in the current." (facing page 617) vertically-mounted, 15.5 cm wide by 10.3 high, signed (for the first time in the series) "H. Allingham" in the lower-right corner.

The main plate illustrates a passage at the end of Ch. 48: "At that time he [Dr. Barker of Budmouth] saw a bather carried along in the current outside the mouth of the cove, and guessed in an instant that there was but a poor chance for him . . ." (p. 620). The initial letter vignette depicts Bathsheba in a private room of the Three Choughs Inn, Casterbridge, where she awakens after her swoon, whereupon her preserver, Boldwood, leaves the room (top of page 619). [detailed discussion]

12. December 1874: Chapters 52 ("Converging Courses") through 57 ("A Foggy Night and Morning: Conclusion") in Vol. 30: pages 641 through 673 (33.6 pages in instalment); plates: initial "O" (6 cm wide by 7.7 cm high) signed "H. A." in lower-left corner, and "Troy next advanced into the middle of the room, took off his cap —" (facing page 641) vertically-mounted, 10.1 cm wide by 16 cm high, signed "H. Allingham" in the lower-left corner.

The initial-letter vignette and first full page of the December 1874 instalment: O.

The final full-page plate depicts the moment that Frank Troy, having decided to reclaim his identity as Bathsheba's husband, reveals his face to the host of the Christmas party at Lower Weatherbury Farm. The dash in the caption is not textual — but offers a visual and grammatical clue to the narrative significance of what comes next, heightening the suspense as the picture prepares the reader fourteen pages earlier for the climactic and (in narrative terms) simultaneous elimination of both Troy and Boldwood as Gabriel's romantic rivals in the melodramatic aspect of the agrarian novel. Ominously, Allingham gives Boldwood an illuminated face that glows eerily like a white skull in the darkened parlour.

As Hardy comments by way of his chapter title, "Concurritur Horae Momento," the story's chief antagonists, in the midst of a seasonal social gathering, suddenly join battle "to the utterance" in a confrontation whose outcome will determine the dénouement of the novel. The initial-letter vignette is actually illustrating the progress of Bathsheba and Gabriel Oak towards the church on the morning of their wedding, although we do not learn the identities of those under the umbrellas until the very close of this final instalment, when Hardy reveals that the occasion at the church in the background is a wedding rather than a funeral. [detailed discussion]

Bibliography

Carpenter, Humphrey, and Marie Prichard. The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1984.

Cirlot, J. E. A Dictionary of Symbolism. Trans. Jack Sage. New York: Dorset, 1991.

The Collected Letters of Thomas Hardy. Volume One: 1840-1892; Volume Three: 1903-1908, ed. Richard Little Purdy and Michael Millgate. Oxford: Clarendon, 1978, 1982.

Cox, R. G. "The Reviews and Magazines," in The New Pelican Guide to English Literature, Vol. 6, From Dickens to Hardy, ed. Boris Ford. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1958.

Evans. Ivor H. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. New York: Harper & Row, 1981.

Gibson, James. "Stephen's Grundian Cloud." 15 August, 2001, 14:22. James.Gibson@ukgateway.net

Hanks, Patrick, and Hodges, Flavia. The Oxford Mini-dictionary of First Names. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1986.

Hardie, Martin. Water-Colour Painting in Britain, Vol. 3: The Victorian Period, ed. Dudley Snelgrove, Jonathan Mayne, and Basil Taylor. London: B. T. Batsford, 1968.

Hardy, Thomas. Far from the Madding Crowd. Ed. Robert C. Schweik. Norton Critical Editions. New York: Norton: 1986.

— [anon.]. Far from the Madding Crowd. [Ed. Leslie Stephen]. The Cornhill Magazine. London: Smith, Elder, January-December, 1874. Vols. 29 and 30. Unless otherwise stated, all references are to this initial edition of the novel.

Holme, Brian. The Kate Greenaway Book. Toronto: Macmillan Canada, 1976.

Jackson, Arlene M. Illustration and the Novels of Thomas Hardy. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield, 1981.

Meisel, Martin. Realizations: Narrative, Pictorial, and Theatrical Arts in Nineteenth- Century England. Princeton: Princeton U. P., 1983.

Ray, Martin. "Victorian Map of Wessex." 23 Tues., Oct., 2001. (Hyperlink "mailto:en1090@abdn.ac.uk") en1090@abdn.ac.uk

Seymour-Smith, Martin. Hardy. London: Bloomsbury, 1994.

Turner, Paul. The Life of Thomas Hardy: A Critical Biography. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998, 2001.

William Allingham: The Diaries, ed. H. Allingham & D. Radford, intro. JohnJulius Norwich. London: Folio Society, 1990.

Web-based Resources

http://www.artnet.com/library/00/0019/T001913.asp

http://www.canvascreations.com/gallery/bio_Allingham.html

http://www.speel.demon.co.uk/Helen Allinghams2/allingham.htm

"Lulworth Cove." The Dorset Guide.


Created 15 November 2002

last updated 27 October 2022