Mary Gresley And An Editor S Tales

Reprint of the original, first published in 1873.

Anthony Trollope ( 24 April 1815 - 6 December 1882) was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Among his best-loved works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. He also wrote perceptive novels on political, social, and gender issues, and on other topical matters.Trollope's literary reputation dipped somewhat during the last years of his life, but he regained the esteem of critics by the mid-twentieth century.orn in London, Anthony attended Harrow School as a free day pupil for three years from the age of seven because his father's farm, [b] acquired for that reason, lay in that neighbourhood. After a spell at a private school at Sunbury, he followed his father and two older brothers to Winchester College, where he remained for three years. He returned to Harrow as a day-boy to reduce the cost of his education. Trollope had some very miserable experiences at these two public schools. They ranked as two of the most elite schools in England, but Trollope had no money and no friends, and was bullied a great deal. At the age of twelve, he fantasized about suicide. However, he also daydreamed, constructing elaborate imaginary worlds. In 1827, his mother Frances Trollope moved to America with Trollope's three younger siblings, to Nashoba Commune. After that failed, she opened a bazaar in Cincinnati, which proved unsuccessful. Thomas Trollope joined them for a short time before returning to the farm at Harrow, but Anthony stayed in England throughout. His mother returned in 1831 and rapidly made a name for herself as a writer, soon earning a good income. His father's affairs, however, went from bad to worse. He gave up his legal practice entirely and failed to make enough income from farming to pay rents to his landlord, Lord Northwick. In 1834, he fled to Belgium to avoid arrest for debt. The whole family moved to a house near Bruges, where they lived entirely on Frances's earnings. In Belgium, Anthony was offered a commission in an Austrian cavalry regiment. To accept it, he needed to learn French and German; he had a year in which to acquire these languages. To learn them without expense to himself and his family, he took a position as an usher in a school in Brussels, which position made him the tutor of thirty boys. After six weeks of this, however, he received an offer of a clerkship in the General Post Office, obtained through a family friend. He returned to London in the autumn of 1834 to take up this post.Thomas Trollope died in the following year. According to Trollope, "the first seven years of my official life were neither creditable to myself nor useful to the public service."At the Post Office, he acquired a reputation for unpunctuality and insubordination. A debt of 12 to a tailor fell into the hands of a moneylender and grew to over 200; the lender regularly visited Trollope at his work to demand payments. Trollope hated his work, but saw no alternatives and lived in constant fear of dismissal..."

"An Editor's Tales" describes a series of encounters between various magazine editors and those who wish to have their works published. While containing some amusing bits, the tales are relatively grim compared to most Trollope stories. In "The Turkish Bath", an editor, upon visiting a Turkish bath, is accosted by an Irish stranger, who, after some conversation, requests to submit a manuscript to the magazine. The editor's reactions to the solicitation and subsequent familiarity with the writer's circumstances forms the frame of the story. Humor arises about the Turkish bath situation and the reluctance of editors to make themselves available to amateur writers. "Mary Gresley" is the rather sad tale of a young girl's giving up her writing career to satisfy the deathbed wish of the curate she was engaged to. The editor in this tale (and also in the next) becomes rather involved emotionally with the girl and wishes her to continue writing. "Josephine de Montmorenci" is actually the proposed pen name of a disabled young lady, who only becomes acquainted with the editor because her attractive sister-in law-initially pretends to be that author. "The Panjandrum" (meaning "appearing to be important") is a magazine proposed by a group of literate but incompatible, inexperienced, would-be writers. The clash of personalities brings about the demise of the venture. "The Spotted Dog" is the story of a writer down on his luck. He and his wife drink excessively. He's well educated and the editor offers him the task of indexing the work of a third person, but his drunken wife destroys the manuscript. "Mrs. Brumby" is the most amusing of the tales. In this one the editor encounters a poor writer who is, unfortunately for him, also a remarkably aggressive and ambitious woman. Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was one of most succesful British authors of the Victorian era. He has written more than forty novels, as well as many short stories and travelogues. Trollope was also an editor and an active member of the London literary scene. Among his most notable works is the series "The Chronicles of Barsetshire", a series of six novels set in fictional Barsetshire.

Trollope and the Magazines examines the serial publication of several of Trollope's novels in the context of the gendered discourses in a range of Victorian magazines - including Cornhill, Good Words, Saint Pauls , and the Fortnightly Review . It highlights the importance of the periodical press in the literary culture of Victorian Britain, and argues that readers today need to engage with the lively cultural debates in the magazines, in order better to appreciate the complexity of Trollope's popular fiction.