Dear Reader,
Welcome to the first issue of Books & Victorians. This edition will spotlight my recent book purchases and showcase a long-forgotten Victorian poem.
While I love to read (a lot) and talk (nonstop) about books, I don’t often purchase many books. I mostly borrow books from the library, including ebooks and audiobooks. I also have a subscription to Audible (which I adore; and am making my way through their catalog of The Great Courses). That said, last November I took a trip to one of the best cities in the world, London, and found myself coming home with one of the largest book hauls of my life.
What compelled me to purchase so many books? I’m not sure…maybe being in London was inspiring. — I visited many wonderful bookshops; old favorites and new-to-me discoveries. I was there during the festive season and couldn’t resist all the beautiful books whispering my name from the bookshelves.
So…I thought one way to introduce myself to you is through my recent book purchases.
I purchased three of the British Library Crime Classics: The Edinburgh Mystery and Other Tales of Scottish Crime, edited by Martin Edwards. It was published late last year and contains incredible mystery stories by incredible writers. I’ve finished reading this book and can confirm the anthology Mr. Edwards put together is brilliant. One of the stories is by Baroness Orczy; the author of the excellent Scarlet Pimpernel series. I very much enjoyed her story, “The Edinburgh Mystery.” The short detective story centers around a theft, a murder and a one-sided love story. Speaking of short stories, I also returned home with a copy of Capital Crimes; also edited by Mr. Edwards. It’s another collection of mystery stories, but this time set in London. Thirdly, I bought Bats in the Belfry: A London Mystery by E.C.R. Lorac. This edition was republished in 2018 by the British Library, but originally published in 1937. The mystery is set in both London and Paris; as I live in Paris this will be especially fun for me to read. One of the characters takes a trip from London to Paris and then vanishes. How ominous!
While we’re chatting about mysteries, I also treated myself to a beautiful Penguin Classic Clothbound edition of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle. My goal is to read all of the Sherlock Holmes stories. I can’t remember if I read this tale or not, but that’s ok because I’ll enjoy it even more with such a beautiful copy in my hands (is what I said to myself as I picked it up from the table display at Waterstones).
I bought The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins, re-published by Persephone Books. Wilkie Collins excelled at the Victorian sensation novel. This story is about the plight of “fallen” women during the Victorian era. Next I purchased another Wilkie Collins novel, The Moonstone published by Oxford University Press. I like Oxford University Press because they provide useful introductions and explain the textual history. This story is a mystery that centers around a jewel. How exciting!
Not pictured above, but I also added to my pile two slim volumes of classic reads: The Frozen Deep by Wilkie Collins and The Lazy Tour of two Idle Apprentices by Charles Dickens and his very good friend Wilkie Collins.
Speaking of sensation novels, I bought The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (though not in London - but when I was in Portugal just a few weeks before London). I’ve read many of Wilde’s stories, but this will be the first serious Wilde novel that I’ll read. The novel is about vanity and fading youth. It was originally published in 1890, during the height of the Victorian aesthetic movement.
At Skoob Books, a lovely bookshop in Bloomsbury, I bought The Virago Book of Fairy Tales simply because it’s edited by Angela Carter. I will read anything she wrote or edited. Because I couldn’t stop there, I also bought another book about fairy tales, The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales by Franz Xaver von Schoenwerth. The Schoenwerth stories were forgotten for over 200 years and rediscovered in a dusty archive in Regensburg, Germany. They are translated into English for the first time. What a treasure!
I saved the best for last. I am fascinated by the history and culture of the Ottoman Empire. When I saw this gorgeous book by Diana Darke, The Ottomans: A Cultural Legacy, I was blown away and had to bring it home with me. It’s a beautiful, beautiful book, filled with stunning illustrations, that tells the cultural history of the Ottoman Empire. I will share a review with you when I finish reading it.
Have you bought any interesting books lately?
Alice Horton was a Victorian-era Canadian poet. In 1898, she translated the German medieval poem “Nibelungenlied” into English. Her poem, “Dancing The Old Year Out” was published in Aunt Judy’s Magazine in January 1870. Aunt Judy’s Magazine was a popular Victorian periodical published in London between 1854 and 1873.
Dancing The Old Year Out by Alice Horton Sister, come away and leave the dancers, Leave the laugh for lighter lips than ours; Would that we had wept instead of jested, In the year's last hours! Did you hear it, when the band was loudest? Come away, for I can dance no more,- There was sobbing, louder than the music, From one at the door. Did you see the shadow in the doorway- A pale spirit--weeping mournfully? Saying, “Pass me softly, O my children, In an hour I die. “Let me hear a prayer upon my death-bed, Lay me chanting in the grave of years, Keep your smiles to greet my doubtful sister, Bury me with tears. “I shall die at midnight, O my children! O my careless children, fare-you-well! When the clock strikes twelve times you'll remember 'Tis my passing-bell.” “Happy New Year!” as the dancers wished it, That pale spirit fled along the floor Wringing such sad hands!-Come home, sweet sister, We will dance no more.