Late Modernist Debuts: Publishing and Professionalizing Young Novelists in 1920s Britain

A man with an imperial connection of his own, Edward Bell (his publishing house's Indian and Colonial Library sold nearly 1.5 million books between 1894 and 1911), was equally emphatic in his rejection of young authors.2 He had edited Chatterton's poetical works early in his publishing car...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Book history 2011-01, Vol.14 (1), p.167-186
Main Author:	Hentea, Marius
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	1900-1999 1920-1929 1920s 20th century Authors Authors and publishers Bibliography Blindness Book publishing British & Irish literature British and Irish literatures British Fiction British Publishing England English Literature Fiction History History of Publishing and Bookselling Humanities and Social Sciences Literary criticism Literature Modernism Modernism (Literature) Modernist art modernist novel novel Novelists Novels Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918) Poetry professionalism Publishing Publishing industry Twentieth Century Waugh, Evelyn (1903-1966)
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Summary:	A man with an imperial connection of his own, Edward Bell (his publishing house's Indian and Colonial Library sold nearly 1.5 million books between 1894 and 1911), was equally emphatic in his rejection of young authors.2 He had edited Chatterton's poetical works early in his publishing career, but in March 1914, when he heard of a proposal to turn the Author's Union magazine into a platform for young writers, he did no more than quote Punch: "Don't. The Great War expanded the field of writers and had a profound effect on both the content of writing and on the reading public's taste. Because the war provided youth with a distinctive experience, publishers became more receptive to their works. [...]the novel was a success, reprinted five times in the first three months and eight times in its first year. "46 While complaining about bothersome interview requests, Lehmann dutifully accepted them; and she happily completed "a most astonishing questionnaire respecting my looks, tastes, hobbies, likes, dislikes, superstitions, etc. etc. etc. for publicity purposes" because it had come from the Book-of-the-Month Club.47 Perhaps the best example is Mary PanterDownes's The Shoreless Sea (1923), written when she was sixteen and serialized in the Daily Mail: the sides of London buses featured prominent advertisements emphasizing the author's youth.48 Publishers also did not mind stretching the truth about an author's age.
ISSN:	1098-7371 1529-1499 1529-1499