The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club
One of the most interesting stories about Tasmania’s early
history is the publication of a pirated edition of Charles Dickens’ the Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club
in 1838-9. It seems that the Launceston Mechanics’ Institute once had a copy in
its collection. (https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/780675?lookfor=pickwick%20papers%20dowling&offset=1&max=2)
The publisher was
Henry Dowling (1810-1885), son of the prominent Baptist minister of the same
name, and brother of artist Robert Dowling. In his lifetime he was a printer,
publisher, bank manager and philanthropist. In 1831, at the age of twenty-one,
he became the editor and publisher of the Advertiser,
previously the paper of John Pascoe Fawkner.
The original Pickwick
Papers had been published (with illustrations) in London in 20 instalments between
March 1836 and October 1837. The illustrator (from number 4 onwards) was ‘Phiz’.
The publication quickly became very
popular and obviously a copy found its way to Van Diemen’s Land fairly
promptly.
Dowling’s version of the text was published in twenty-five
instalments from August to October 1838 and was available from his stationery
warehouse in Brisbane Street. Illustrations for this pirated publication were
made available to subscribers towards the end of this time. The illustrations,
copies or adaptations of those in the English publication, were said to be by
‘Tiz’. The story was later published in book form with twenty lithographic
illustrations.
The identity of the illustrator ‘Tiz’ has always been a
mystery. Jack Briggs, said to be a servant of Dowling’s, is usually credited
with the illustrations, although he is not known to have had any artistic
training. However, an obituary for Henry
Dowling in 1885, more than 45 years after his publication of the pirated
version, claims the illustrations were done by a draughtsman in the Hobart Survey
Office. (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/9110751)
Very few copies of Dowling’s version remain in libraries in
Australia. The State Library of NSW claims to have the only copies of the
original instalments version. Libraries Tasmania has a copy of the book form,
as does the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. The National Library in
Canberra has two copies and one of those is noted as having the stamp of the
Launceston Mechanics’ Institute! To date there is no knowledge of how the LMI
acquired its copy, or how it ended up in the National Library. If you have any further
information, please feel free to comment on this blog.
A curious chain of events lies behind the presence of a copy of the pirate edition of Pickwick Papers with Launceston Mechanics' Institute provenance in the National Library of Australia's collection.
ReplyDeleteIn 1920 the Institute was very keen to be included in the free circulation list for the newly published series of Historical Records of Australia. Because Launceston was not a state capital it was originally held to be ineligible. Undaunted, the Institute's Librarian Joseph Forward continued to argue the case for special treatment of the "northern capital".
The man who carried these arguments to the Federal Parliament on behalf of the Institute was long-serving Tasmanian Senator, John Henry Keating, a member of the Parliamentary Library Committee and a fierce advocate for his state. It was Keating who convinced the Committee of Launceston's unique constitutional position and historical claim to special treatment.
Having convinced the Parliamentary Library Committee, the Senator wrote a letter headed "UNOFFICIAL" to Forward, setting out in detail the Committee's reasoning for the special treatment afforded to Launceston, pointing out that all similar requests had been turned down, and emphasising their reluctance to set a precedent which might be exploited by other regional cities and towns.
He then suggested a quid pro quo which he believed would absolutely seal the deal by removing any doubts that Launceston was a special case. When Dr J F (Fred) Watson, compiler and editor of the Historical Records, had visited the Institute library in his search for early records he had "seen an extra copy or copies of the local issue of Pickwick Papers with locally drawn sketches." Keating concluded "I think perhaps the best course would be, if your Committee feels so disposed, that they should offer one of these Pickwick Papers to the Library Committee of the Commonwealth through its Secretary. Such an action would be satisfactory in every way and would, I can assure you, be very much appreciated by the Library Committee as well as personally by yours faithfully J H Keating."
Senator Keating urged discretion in the matter and further suggested that it was desirable that the exchange should not come formally before the Institute's committee, nor be referred to in their minutes.
And so it was, that the Institute gave up one of their copies of Dowling's pirated edition of Pickwick Papers and the Parliamentary Library gained a very desirable item through their own act of piracy – a gift with strings attached. The Parliamentary Library's role as custodian of the National Collection was formally assumed by the National Library of Australia on its establishment in 1960, and of course Dowling's Pickwick Papers would have been included in the transfer .
Today the original gifted set of Historical Records of Australia is still held in the local studies collection in Launceston's public library, along with two bound copies of Dowling's edition of Pickwick Papers and an even rarer unbound set of the original parts as issued in 1838-39.
Thank you for this information. A fascinating tale. I was looking at this very copy in NLA a few days ago and wondering how it got there. Perhaps not quite as bad as the selling off of The Hermit in Van Diemen's Land by the Hobart Public Library not all that many years previously but ...
ReplyDeleteSally Bloomfield