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NINETEENTH CENTURY LITERARY MANUSCRIPTS

Part 2: The Correspondence and Records of Smith, Elder & Co from the National Library of Scotland

The second part of this series offers the correspondence and records of George Smith (1824-1901), and his successors as heads of the firm of Smith, Elder and Co, 1846-1924, relating mostly to the publication of articles in The Cornhill Magazine, which he founded, and of books published by the firm.

The Cornhill Magazine (1860-1975) is acknowledged as one of the great literary periodicals, achieving a consistently high quality.

It began with Thackeray as Editor and specialised in the serialisation of his novels. Other writers who graced its pages were Robert Browning, George Eliot, Mrs Gaskell, Thomas Hardy, George MacDonald, Charles Reade, John Ruskin, Algernon Swinburne and Alfred Tennyson. It also includes much writing by Sir Leslie Stephen (who married Thackeray’s daughter Minney), who was editor from 1871-1882.

Thackeray’s novels and Browning’s Ring and the Book were among the many books published by Smith, Elder and Co, who also published the Dictionary of National Biography (founded by George Smith).

The records covered include a set of Account Books spanning from 1860 to 1869 and a Register of Contributors to The Cornhill Magazine from 1880 to 1901.

The correspondence runs to fourteen substantial volumes and reads like a Who’s Who of Victorian Literature and Society. Authors heavily represented are:

Matthew Arnold
Thomas Hardy
John Ruskin
Sir Leslie Stephen
W M Thackeray
& Anthony Trollope.

This second part also includes a substantial and unpublished autobiography by George Smith entitled Recollections of a long and busy life (written c1895).

This second part is an invaluable source for understanding the relationship between publishers, editors and authors, and will contribute to the study of the culture and commerce of literary production.



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