Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,410 downloads on Project Gutenberg
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In: Biographies·Essays, Letters & Speeches·History - Modern (1750+)
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #12632.
Fields makes a lively tour through the literary salons of nineteenth‑century England, presenting his own role as a transatlantic broker for the likes of Dickens, Hawthorne and Thackeray. The opening passages recount his frequent trips to England to secure American publishing rights, his friendship with Dickens at Gad’s Hill, and the amusing notes the novelist sent him. From there the narrative widens to include personal anecdotes of meetings with Wordsworth, Thackeray, and the dramatist Mary Russell Mitford, whose long, gossipy letters are reproduced in full. Interwoven with these recollections are vivid sketches of the Old Corner Bookstore in Boston and the evolution of Tickner & Fields into today’s Houghton Mifflin, grounding the memoir in both the physical and commercial history of the book trade.
The voice is that of a seasoned, conversational memoirist, blending the informal chatter of a “garrulous old age” with the erudition of a literary scholar. Its style mirrors the ornate, digressive prose of Victorian essayists, rich with quotations and allusions to poets such as Pope and Ruskin. Readers who relish behind‑the‑scenes stories of literary giants, enjoy detailed portraiture of 19th‑century cultural circles, and appreciate a blend of personal anecdote with historical context will find this work especially rewarding.
The opening · free to read
Fields made frequent visits to England to land the American publishing rights to the works of important British writers, including the great superstar of the time, Charles Dickens. Dickens accepted Fields as a personal friend, entertained him at his retreat, Gad's Hill, and wrote him many amusing notes that are included here. Fields also socialized with the cream of London literary society, and the book includes his personal anecdotes of meeting Wordsworth, Thackeray, and others. He formed a friendship with Mary Russell Mitford (a successful dramatist and novelist of the day; two of her works are available in Project Gutenberg editions) and she wrote him long, gossipy letters, reproduced here.
The firm of Ticknor and Fields, after many mergers and acquisitions, continues to exist today as Houghton Mifflin Books. The firm's original store, the Old Corner Bookstore, still exists as a bookstore at the corner of School and Washington streets in Boston.
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