Anthony Trollope; His Work, Associates and Literary Originals

1848

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. 298; Vol. II., pp. 298; Vol. III., pp. 285.

For this book Colburn agreed to pay the author half profits, but actually incurred a loss which amounted to £63, 10s. 1½d. Only 375 copies were printed, and 140 sold. The sum of £123, 19s. 5d., recorded as received for this work, was therefore probably in respect of later editions. The influence of a friend obtained a short notice in the Times to the effect that the book was like a leg of mutton, substantial, but a little coarse, but before this notice appeared Trollope had made up his mind never to ask for, or deplore, criticism; never to thank a critic for praise, or quarrel with him for censure. To this rule he adhered with absolute strictness, and recommended it to all young authors.

1850

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. iv (preface pp. iii-iv), 320; Vol. II., pp. 330; Vol. III., pp. 313.

According to the agreement for this book Trollope was to receive £20 down; £30 when Colburn had sold 350 copies; and £50 more should he sell 450 within six months. The £20 was received, but no more, so that the sales were presumably no larger than before. No reviews of it seem ever to have met Trollope’s eye.

1855

Small 8vo. In One Volume: pp. iv, 336.

Conceived while wandering around Salisbury Cathedral during his work in establishing rural posts, The Warden was begun by Trollope at Tenbury in Worcestershire on July 29, 1852, and finished in Ireland in the autumn of the following year. This was the first book of the series of novels of which Barchester was the central site. He received a cheque for £9, 8s. 8d. at the end of 1855, and £10, 15s. 1d. a year later. A thousand copies were printed, and of these about 300 were converted into another form five or six years later, and sold as belonging to a cheap edition.

A review in the Times rebuked the author for indulging in personalities in the matter of one Tom Towers, introduced by him as a contributor to the Jupiter. But though Trollope had certainly thus alluded to the Times, he was at that period entirely ignorant of the personnel of its staff.

1857

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. 305; Vol. II., p. 299; Vol. III., pp. iv, 321.

Written chiefly in railway trains while investigating the rural postal system of England, Barchester Towers was the second of the series dealing with the bishops, deans, and archdeacon of Barchester. It was published by Longman, after a refusal on the author’s part to curtail the work, on the half-profit system, with the payment of £100 in advance from the half-profits. Writing in 1876, Trollope records a small yearly income from this and the preceding book, The Warden, making together at that date a total of £727, 11s. 3d.

1858

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. iv, 340; Vol. II., pp. iv, 322; Vol. III., pp. iv, 334.

An autobiographical interest marks this book, for the story of how Trollope was admitted into the Secretary’s office of the General Post Office in 1834 by Henry and Clayton Freeling, the sons of Sir Francis, is told in the opening chapters under the guise of Charley Tudor’s admittance into the Internal Navigation Office. The whole scheme of competitive examination is deplored, and its supporters, Sir Charles Trevelyan and Sir Stafford Northcote (afterwards Lord Iddesleigh) appear respectively as Sir Gregory Hardlines and Sir Warwick West End. The book gave official offence.

As Longman was not prepared to buy it outright, Trollope took it to Bentley, who paid him £250 for all rights.

1858

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. iv, 305; Vol. II. pp. iv, 323; Vol. III., pp. iv, 340.

The plot of this book was sketched for Trollope by his brother, Thomas Adolphus, whom he was visiting in Florence in 1857. This was the only occasion on which he had recourse to other brains for the thread of a story. While writing it in Dublin early in 1858, he was asked to go to Egypt to arrange a postal treaty with the Pasha. He sold his book, when passing through London, to Chapman and Hall for £400, Bentley refusing to give more than £300; and finished it in Egypt, writing his allotted number of pages every day, even during sea-sickness on the terribly rough voyage to Alexandria.

By the sales, he judged this to be his most popular book.

1859

8vo. In One Volume: pp. iv, 395. With coloured map.

When Trollope was asked to go to the West Indies to reconstruct the whole of its postal system, he proposed this book to Chapman and Hall, asking £250 for the single volume. The contract was made without difficulty, and he returned with the completed work. His view of the relative position of white men and black was upheld by three articles in the Times, which made the fortune of the book. Trollope regarded it as the best he had ever written.

1859

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. iv. 335; Vol. II., pp. iv. 344; Vol. III., pp. iv. 331.

Begun the day after finishing Doctor Thorne, this book was written under very vagrant circumstances at Alexandria, Malta, Gibraltar, Glasgow, at sea, and finished in Jamaica. It was sold to Chapman and Hall for £400, but never attained the popularity of Doctor Thorne.

Trollope says that he never heard it well spoken of.

1860

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. vi, 303; Vol. II., pp. iv, 300; Vol. III., pp. vi, 289.

Declined by George Smith in November 1859 for the Cornhill Magazine, which was to appear for the first time some eight weeks hence, on the ground that it was an Irish story, this book was published later by Chapman & Hall, as originally intended, after Framley Parsonage had been running in the Cornhill. This was the only occasion on which Trollope had two different novels in his mind at the same time. He asked and obtained £600 for it on the success of The West Indies.

1861

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. 333; Vol. II., pp. 318; Vol. III., pp. 330.

There are two illustrations in each volume, the list being on page iv. (unnumbered) of Vol. I.

Messrs. Smith & Elder, having offered Trollope £1000 for the copyright of a three-volume novel to appear serially in their new venture, the Cornhill, declined Castle Richmond on account of its Irish character, but begged him to frame some other story, suggesting the Church as a theme peculiar to his powers. He thereupon fell back on his old Barchester friends and wrote a tale that became increasingly popular as it proceeded. Framley Parsonage appeared in the Cornhill from January 1860 to April 1861. The author himself doubted the possibility of making a character more life-like than Lucy Robarts.

1861

Small 8vo. In One Volume: pp. 312.

This is the First Series; for the Second, see under 1863.

Contents

La Mère Bauche. Republished from Harper’s New York Magazine.
The O’Conors of Castle Conor. From the same.
John Bull on the Guadalquivir. From Cassell’s Family Paper.
Miss Sarah Jack, of Spanish Town, Jamaica. From the same.
The Courtship of Susan Bell. From Harper’s New York Magazine.
Relics of General Chassé. From the same.
An Unprotected Female at the Pyramids. From Cassell’s Family Paper.
The Château of Prince Polignac. From the same.

Some of these stories reflect Trollope’s own adventures. The second is based on his early days in Ireland, and the third on the chief incident in a journey to Seville.

1862

8vo. Vol. I., pp. viii, 320; Vol. II., pp. viii, 320. Each volume contains twenty illustrations.

Completed before he started for America in 1861, this appeared in twenty shilling numbers, and Trollope obtained £3135. While rating the plot highly he thought it declared itself too soon. Of the illustrations by Millais he wrote: “I have never known a set of illustrations so carefully true, as are these, to the conceptions of the writer of the book illustrated. I say that as a writer. As a lover of art I will add that I know no book graced with more exquisite pictures.” The drawing of Orley Farm itself, in the frontispiece, depicts in reality the farmhouse at Harrow in which the Trollope family lived during the author’s boyhood.

1862

8vo. Vol. I., pp. viii.; folding map, 467; Vol. II., pp. viii, 494 (Appendices A, B, and C, pp. 467-494.)

On the outbreak of the War of Secession in 1861 Trollope applied for nine months’ leave of absence from the Post Office and visited America, writing as he went from State to State. It is interesting to note that, contrary to the very strong feeling in England in favour of the South, he felt with and prophesied the victory of the North. The book met the demand of the moment; second and third editions were published in the same year, and Trollope received £1250.

1863

Small 8vo. In One Volume: pp. 371.

Contents.

1. Aaron Trow.
2. Mrs. General Talboys.
3. The Parson’s Daughter of Oxney Colne.
4. George Walker at Suez.
5. The Mistletoe Bough.
6. Returning Home.
7. A Ride Across Palestine.
8. The House of Heine Brothers in Munich.
9. The Man who kept his Money in a Box.

Republished from various periodicals.

For the first of this series see under 1861. For these two books and (probably) for Lotta Schmidt, virtually one of the same series, though the title was discontinued, Trollope received a total sum of £1830. The tales reflect much of his own experiences.

1863

Small 8vo. Vol I., pp. iv, 319; Vol. II., pp. iv, 310.

Written at the request of Dr. Norman Macleod for Good Words, Rachel Ray was partly printed by him, and then returned with profuse apologies as unsuitable—as Trollope had predicted it would be. It therefore appeared in ordinary volume form. A later and cheaper edition contained one illustration by Millais. Trollope received a total of £1645.

1864

Octavo. Vol. I., pp. 312; Vol. II., pp. 316.

Vol. I. contains ten illustrations; Vol. II., eight.

On the conclusion of The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson, this far more popular work appeared serially in the Cornhill from September 1862 to April 1864. Published in book form in 1864, it ran into a third edition within the year, and Trollope received a sum of £3000. Sir Raffle Buffle, a hero of the Civil Service, was intended to represent a type, not a man; but the man for the picture was soon chosen. Trollope, however, had never seen, and never did see, the supposed prototype.

1864

8vo. Vol. I., pp. vi, 320; Vol. II., pp. vi, 320.

This story was partly formed on a comedy, The Noble Jilt, written by Trollope in 1850 and refused by George Bartley, the actor-manager. It became very dear to the author as the first of a series that continued with Phineas Finn, Phineas Redux, and The Prime Minister. Can You Forgive Her? appeared in twenty shilling numbers from August 1863, and Trollope received £3525.

Each volume contains twenty illustrations. Those in the first volume were by “Phiz” (Hablot K. Browne), but Frederick Chapman, the publisher, considered them so bad and incongruous that the remainder were made by a Miss Taylor.

1865

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. vi, 312; Vol. II., pp. vi, 313.

Issued in ordinary volume form in the early spring of 1865, Miss Mackenzie was written with the desire to prove love an unessential element in a novel, but the attempt broke down before the conclusion. It brought the author £1300.

1865

Small 8vo. In One Volume: pp. 115.

Contents.

The Man who Hunts and doesn’t Like it.
The Man who Hunts and does Like it.
The Lady who Rides to Hounds.
The Hunting Farmer.
The Man who Hunts and never Jumps.
The Hunting Parson.
The Master of Hounds.
How to Ride to Hounds.

1866

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. iv, 284; Vol. II., pp. iv, 308; Vol. III., pp. iv, 276.

This was the first serial to appear in the new Fortnightly Review, established by Trollope and others in May 1865, under the editorship of G. H. Lewes. It brought in a sum of £1757.

1866

Small 8vo. In One Volume: pp. 112.

Contents

The Family that Goes Abroad because it’s the Thing to Do.
The Man who Travels Alone.
The Unprotected Female Tourist.
The United Englishmen who Travel for Fun.
The Art Tourist.
The Tourist in Search of Knowledge.
The Alpine Club Man.
Tourists who Don’t Like their Travels.

1866

Small 8vo. In One Volume: pp. 130.

Contents

These sketches incurred the wrath of a great dean, and were the subject of a hostile review in the Contemporary Review.

1867

8vo. Vol. I., pp. vi, 313; Vol. II., pp. vi, 309.

This was the last book written for the Cornhill in which it appeared serially from February 1866 to May 1867. The total sum received was £2800, being the highest rate of pay ever accorded to Trollope. It was offered by George Smith, the proprietor of the magazine, and paid in a single cheque.

1867

8vo. Vol. I., pp. 384; Vol. II., pp. 384.

The shilling magazines having interfered greatly with the success of novels published in numbers without other accompanying matter, George Smith made the experiment of bringing this book out in monthly parts at sixpence each. The enterprise was not entirely successful, but the author received £3000 for the use of the MS.

He killed off “Mrs. Proudie” in consequence of a conversation he could not help overhearing between two clergymen at the Athenæum Club.

1867

8vo. In One Volume: pp. 403.

The half-fly-leaf bears the words, “Reprinted from ‘Good Words’ and other Magazines.” There is no list of contents, but the titles of the tales are as follows:

Trollope himself appears to have regarded this as the third of the series of Tales of All Countries, though the actual title had been abandoned. The stories reflect in some degree his own adventures, and for the three books he received a total of £1830. An edition, dated 1870, contains slight bibliographical variations.

1867

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. 228; Vol. II, pp. 215.

Begun in 1865, and published anonymously in Blackwood’s Magazine in 1866, the authorship was discovered by Hutton of the Spectator from the repetition of some special phrase peculiar to Trollope. The total sum received for this book was £450.

1868

Small 8vo. In One Volume, pp. 322.

Contents

Of these eight papers, which appeared in St. Paul’s Magazine, only the second, “On Hunting,” pp. 70-129 inclusive, is by Trollope, though the Preface, pp. 1-7 inclusive, is also his.

1868

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. 216; Vol. II., pp. 215.

Page v. (unnumbered) of Vol. I. contains a list of the persons of the story.

Written in June and July 1867 for Blackwood’s Magazine, in which it appeared anonymously. Neither this nor Nina Balatka was a success, and Blackwood declined the third such tale which was ready for him. (See The Golden Lion of Granpère, 1872, below.) Trollope received £450, which was probably not more than half the sum he would have obtained had he allowed his name to appear.

1869

8vo. Vol. I., pp. vi, 320; Vol. II., pp. vi, 328.

The total sum received for this book was £3200. Completed in May 1867, it appeared in the following October in the new St. Paul’s Magazine, founded by James Virtue, and edited by Trollope for three and a half years at a salary of £1000 a year. He attended the gallery of the House of Commons for two months in order to describe correctly the ways and doings of a Parliamentary member. It ran till May 1869. See also note to Can You Forgive Her? above.

1869

8vo. In Two Volumes. Vol. I., pp. ix, 384; Vol. II., pp. ix, 384.

First appeared in thirty-two weekly parts (the first four parts being sewed in one); from November 7, 1867 to May 22, 1868.... Price Sixpence each. The paper cover had an illustration by Marcus Stone, and the publishers were Virtue & Company, 294 City Road, and 26 Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row; New York: 12 Dey Street, the proprietors of the St. Paul’s Magazine. The total sum received for this book was £3200. It was finished during the negotiations for a postal treaty undertaken by Trollope at Washington.

1870

Small 8vo. In One Volume. With frontispiece and vignette title page before title page as given above; pp. iv, 254.

This ran serially in the Cornhill from August 1861 to March 1862. It was Trollope’s only—and unsuccessful—attempt at a humorous work. He received £600 for it.

The illustrations were by

1870

Small 8vo. In One Volume: pp. vi, 182.

John Blackwood having started a series of Ancient Classics for English Readers under the editorship of the Rev. William Lucas Collins, he invited Trollope to write the fourth book of the new venture. Trollope chose his subject and finished the book in three months, giving it as a present to his friend the publisher. It was outside his usual line of work and was coldly received.

1870

8vo. In One Volume, pp. xvi (Preface vii-ix inclusive), 481.

Begun at Washington in 1868 during the negotiations for a postal treaty, the day after finishing He knew He was Right, this book was intended for publication in Once a Week in 1869. Owing, however, to the dilatoriness of Victor Hugo, The Vicar of Bullhampton, and the translation of L’Homme qui Rit would thus have appeared together, and this the proprietors, Messrs. Bradbury and Evans, naturally deemed unsuitable. They offered Trollope publication in the Gentleman’s Magazine, but he refused with some heat, and they then issued the work in eight parts, paying him the sum of £2500.

This book was written with the intention of exciting pity and sympathy for a fallen woman, and the author so far departed from his usual principle as to affix a preface, which he reprinted in his Autobiography (Vol. II., 177), in support of his subject.

1870

8vo. One Volume: pp. 375.

Contents

Republished from the St. Paul’s Magazine, of which he was editor, these stories reflect in an indirect manner Trollope’s own experiences. He himself considered The Spotted Dog the best of them. The total sum received for this book was £378.

1871

Small 8vo. In One Volume: pp. vii, 323.

Begun in November 1868 on the conclusion of The Vicar of Bullhampton, and written on the same plan as Nina Balatka and Linda Tressel, this story was sold to Macmillan’s Magazine for £750, in which it appeared serially without any marked success. It was then sold by the proprietors to Messrs. Hurst & Blackett, who proposed bringing it out in two volume form. Trollope, however, had his own ideas as to the proper length of a volume, and persuaded them to print it in one.

A new edition was published by Macmillan & Co., London and New York, in the same year.

1871

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. 342; Vol. II., pp. 338; Vol. III., pp. 347.

This ran serially through the St. Paul’s Magazine. Trollope thought it one of the worst novels he had ever written, but the plot of it was afterwards used by Charles Reade for his play, Shilly-Shally.

The total sum received for this book was £2500, and it was re-issued in the same year by another firm, as follows:

8vo. In One Volume: pp. iv, 434.

1872

8vo. In One Volume: pp. 353.

Written in September and October 1867, this story was intended for anonymous publication in Blackwood’s Magazine, but as Blackwood had not found this arrangement profitable in the cases of Nina Balatka and Linda Tressel, it lay by until it appeared in Good Words and the author received £550.

1873

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. viii, 354; Vol. II., pp. viii, 363; Vol. III., pp. viii, 354.

This appeared in the Fortnightly from July 1871 during Trollope’s absence in Australia. The legal opinion as to heirlooms which it contains was written by Charles Merewether, afterwards M.P. for Northampton, and Trollope was told that it became the ruling authority on the subject. As regarded sales, this was the most successful book since The Small House at Allington. The author received £2500.

1873

1874

Small 8vo. In One Volume, pp. 313.

Written in 1873 by request of the proprietors of the Graphic, who paid him £450, Harry Heathcote reflects many of the experiences of Trollope’s second son, who was a sheep farmer in Australia.

1874

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. viii, 317; Vol. II., pp. viii, 314.

This story was written on the voyage to Australia in 1871, at the rate of sixty-six pages of MS. a week for eight weeks, each page containing 250 words. Trollope records that he missed one day’s work through illness. It appeared in the Fortnightly in 1873 on the conclusion of The Eustace Diamonds.

The total sum received for this book was £1200.

1874

1875

8vo. Vol. I., pp. vi, 320; Vol. II., pp. vi, 319.

The illustrations are by L. G. F.

This was a vigorous piece of satire, written in Trollope’s new home, 39 Montagu Square, in 1873. It appeared in shilling numbers from February 1874 to September 1875.

The total sum received for this book was £3000.

1876

Small 8vo. Vol. I., pp. vi, 337; Vol. II., pp. iv, 342; Vol. III., vi, 346; Vol. IV., pp. vi, 347.

This book appeared in eight parts at five shillings each, with an illustration in medallion on the paper covers, which were engraved by Dalziel. It was in most respects a failure, worse reviewed than any novel Trollope had written. He was especially hurt by a criticism in the Spectator. The total sum received for this work was £2500.

See also note under Can You Forgive Her? above.

1877