1) When, where, and by whom was your text first printed?
1824,
2) How often was your text reprinted? List all of the reprints using MLA citation style. Do not confuse dates of publisher’s/printer’s birth and death with reprint dates.
The National Union Catalogue Pre-1956 only contained two listings: the first 1824 publication and the
Fiction, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the U of Virginia Library.
Even though it was Child’s first printed work, it surprised me that there was only one edition of Hobomok ever printed in the 19th century. Reviews from that time both critique and praise the novel, but it must not have been popular enough for a second printing. Even in the last century there has really been only one printed edition which has lasted and it is from the 1970’s. The novel is indeed rather obscure. In contrast, the NUC shows that many of Child’s other works–political, domestic, and fictional–were printed over and over again, even dozens of time, both in her lifetime and currently. The best attribution to this difference in popularity is most likely due to the fact that Hobomok was her first attempt, and, as scholars note, was not the best of her writing.
3) What was the actual size of your novel in inches or centimeters? (That is, consider it as a material object.) What information can you find about its physical presence? Do you think it was expensive or inexpensive?
It is 18 cm long, but I was not able to find an exact measurement of the width or height. The Book is 188 pages, and based on the e-bay seller’s photo, rather thin, perhaps 2 cm. It has a leather binding, which leads me to believe that it would have cost more than a plain paperback, unless the owner had the volume bound him/herself, which seems more likely.
Being Child’s first novel, printed in a time when novels were now accepted (based on the James McHenry quote from that year) and also less expensive because of printing practices etc, it seems that Hobomok would have been cheap. I am at a loss as to why I cannot find any printing/ publication history, as of yet, about Hobomok. I probably could if I searched through her letters, or got a more recent biography of Child (the only one in UCF’s literature section is from 1980—I should probably search in the history section).
4) View the original title page using the digital database or microfilm. What is included there?[1] Transcribe the exact words of all of the information listed on the title page.
The title page includes the title, an author attribution, a quotation and the publication information.
[very large font] HOBOMOK, │[medium large font] A TALE OF EARLY TIMES. │[medium font] BY AN AMERICAN │ [centered long horizontal dash] │ [left justified, indented right margin, small font] Then all this youthful paradise around, │ and all the broad and boundless mainland, lay │ cooled by the interminable wood, that fround │ O’re mount and vale. [right justified] Bryant. │ [centered long horizontal dash] │ [smaller centered horizontal dash with center swell] │[medium font]
It is interesting to note that Child calls herself “An American” – making her nationality, not her gender, status or state, the center of her identity. In the preface, she interestingly identify the author as a man.
The subtitle, “A tale of early times” focuses the novel not on sentiment or domesticity, but on history, even invoking a nostalgic/glamorous past which Scott so often plays upon.
The poem included has a rather Romantic ring to it, in its praise of nature. But this ring is distinctly American as opposed to British because of its reference to the “broad and boundless mainland”;
It is significant that the name of the Publishers is much larger than the name of the printer.
5) If there is more than one edition, compare the title pages. Note any differences here.
There seems to be only one original edition. The modern printing is in a collection of Child’s works on Indians and bears a drawing of a Native American.
6) What miscellaneous front matter exists? Describe it: Frontispiece, Engravings, Preface, Dedication, Other
The only front matter is a Preface which takes up two pages—the front and back of a leaf. The second page of the preface, on the left of the spread, is paginated [iv] (indicating that pagination began with the title page). The very next page, on the right of the same spread, begins chapter 1 (no pagination). The next page, on the left is paginated [6], showing continuous pagination, with only a change from roman to Arabic numerals.
The content of the preface explains the fictitious origins and true purpose of the novel. The speaker in the preface, who calls himself Frederic, has a conversation with his friend about writing “a
By using the guise of an editor in the preface, Child is able to distance herself from her own voice, expressing her hopes, fears and disappointments regarding her novel through the third person perspective. She is also able to flatter and praise herself without appearing conceited.
The discussion on the first page of the preface about literature of the day is very interesting, and provides the motive and aim of the novel. The author almost resentfully describes the wild success of Walter Scott and Cooper, an while admitting
Probably the most interesting aspect of the preface is the fact that through it, Child presents herself as a man. By doing this, although she may express fears of failure and literary rejection, she demands that such judgment be made by merit of her writing alone, and not according to her gender. She also avoids having to make many of the humble excuses often expected of female authors for their “scribbling” and spares herself and the rest of her sex self-inflicted deprecation.
The fact that there is no dedication might remind us that reading was becoming more of an industry/trade, and perhaps less a pastime of gentry/aristocracy who needed to follow formal social conventions of groveling to patrons.
7) How long is your novel? Is it broken into volumes and chapters or is it one big chunk? How many volumes and/or chapters? Is the print large and easy to read or dense, with many words on each page and lines close together.
The novel is 188 pages (including the preface and title page).
It is broken into a preface and twenty chapters, each marked with a roman numeral and a quotation at the beginning. The chapters are relatively short—usually around 5-10 pages.
The type-setting is pleasant, with adequate margins and spacing, making for easy reading. Each chapter begins on its own, new page, leaving several inches at the top and spacing. With the exception of one pictorial symbol in the end of the book (the name-symbol of Hobomok), the book is without any special illustration or decoration. None the less, the volume is crisp, light, and pleasing to the eye
The clean simplicity of the book seems to point to both the improved printing conditions of the day, as well as the lack of wealth and status on Child’s part to merit anything particularly fancy.
8) What back matter exists (following the end of the novel, usually signified by the word “finis”)? Sometimes lists of subscribers or other works from this printer or bookseller are mentioned here.
The English words “the end” as oppose to the French word “finis” may be yet another nod to the particularly American/New
That there are no lists of subscribers could be an indication of the early 19th century changes in publication, or it could indicate that Child had the money to print on her own.
Several of her later works, such as History of Women and The Mother's Book were published by C.S. Francis & Co. and advertised in the back of Letters from New York, and presumably other C.S. Francis & Co. publications.
